


The Bluebirds

by Evie_Rai



Category: Original Work
Genre: 1940s, Air Force, Angst and Drama, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Romance, Angst and Tragedy, Arguing, Arranged Marriage, Best Friends, Bilingual Character(s), British English, British Military, British Slang, Brother Feels, Brother-Sister Relationships, Brotherly Affection, Brothers, Deception, Drama & Romance, Drinking & Talking, Drinking to Cope, Dubious Consent, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Infidelity, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Extremely Dubious Consent, F/M, Family Angst, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Issues, Family Secrets, Female Protagonist, Fluff and Humor, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Enemies, Friendship, Friendship/Love, From Sex to Love, Grief/Mourning, Hate Sex, Heavy Angst, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Infidelity, Jealousy, Lies, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Major Original Character(s), Male-Female Friendship, Marriage Proposal, Mental Anguish, Mental Instability, Mercy Killing, Military, Military Backstory, Military Families, Military Training, Military Uniforms, Moral Ambiguity, Moral Dilemmas, Moral Lessons, Moulin Rouge References, Multiple Pairings, Multiple Partners, Multiple Relationships, NAAFI, Nazi Germany, Nazis, Near Death Experiences, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Original Fiction, POV Original Character, POV Original Female Character, Past Infidelity, Pilots, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Pregnancy, Prostitution, Public Display of Affection, Public Humiliation, Public Sex, Romantic Friendship, Royalty, Secret Identity, Secret Relationship, Self-Esteem Issues, Spies & Secret Agents, The Royal Navy, Unplanned Pregnancy, Unresolved Emotional Tension, World War II, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:00:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 100
Words: 186,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27976992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evie_Rai/pseuds/Evie_Rai
Summary: April 1940, the battle of Britain begins.A pilot in the RAF, Lina takes to the skies to keep back the German's flying over the Channel.It's not easy to be constantly dicing with death, but it must be done.On a single flight she witnesses the death of her father, but rather than crumbling it makes her more determined.Drawing an enemy pilot inland the plane crashes, bursting into flames. On inspection it is decided that the pilot was unable to eject.However that verdict was wrong, Marcus survived, and he now must evade capture at all costs.Wounded and with nowhere to go Marcus thinks he has lucked out on finding an obviously long abandoned homestead.Except it's not abandoned for long, and someone is coming home.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 33
Kudos: 18





	1. White Cliffs of Dover

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this has returned. For good, this time.  
> As I was told - criticised - a while ago, I basically turned those borrowed characters so out of character that they were almost my own, I have turned them into my own.
> 
> I loved this story, the birth place of some of my most beloved characters, and I don’t want to see it go to waste. 
> 
> So, to any old readers, I hope you will enjoy it again. 
> 
> To those new? Enjoy the roller coaster this story can be. 
> 
> ❤️

> _"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"_ -
> 
> **Winston Spencer Churchill**
> 
> **20th August 1940**

* * *

Pirouetting in a fog of smoke and flames the Hurricane spun toward the channel waters. Embracing its brothers and sisters in a watery grave. 

When it burst into an ambience of fiery death akin to the fairytale descriptions of a Phoenix; she prayed that it would be born again from its ashes, briefly.

No sooner did the corner of her eye capture the lick of a flame, did her heart cease beating, and time came to her in the cruellest of realities.

The propellers no longer an indistinct blur, she watched each one turn, could hear their frantic beating against the sky.

Not now. Not yet. There would be time to mourn after Lina shook the Bf 109 from her tail.

Dangerously close to the waters they were fighting to keep she pulled the Spitfire into a rapid ascent, climbing the cliffs' face.

Pulled back in the seat with the manoeuvre her heart finally tripped, escaping the paralysis of its loss, it surged with a renewed rhythm.

Unless Lina wanted to join her father in his death, she had to keep focused, remain focused on intercepting and most importantly, get back to land in one piece.

The thud of an active gunner threw Lina into a sharp turn. Tipped onto the side Lina followed her glide, righting herself once sure that she was out of the bullets direct path.

Thumb flirting with the trigger Lina wasted little time on checking her six. Not when the ugly shade of a Bf appeared from a waft of cloud and smoke.

Teeth clenched Lina unloaded on the plane, pursuing it when it rolled to escape. Whether it was the renewed hate held for them or that Lina finally understood what she was seated in the cockpit for, she wasn't sure. All Lina knew was that she could not let this one escape.

Not this one.

Pursuing doggedly was more often costly than fruitful, yet she stayed on it. Following its rolls, tumbles and glides while keeping her shots short and controlled.

It was just a spark. Metal penetrating metal. But it was enough.

The Bf 109 coughed and guttered, spitting flame and smoke from its engine. More controlled than Lina's father's descent, the plane kept in a straight line for a few feet, before arcing, diving as though it were a swan.

  
Throwing the Spitfire into a turn, Lina watched the skies once blue turn black and grey, flashing with the bullets of the planes dogfighting for a victory that was never without some defeat.

There were fewer of them still up in the sky than when they were scrambled for takeoff, but none felt more significant than her father's downed plane.

No longer shaking off the heat of the German bomber, Lina took no sense of pride or retribution for shooting down the hunk of flying metal that left her without a father.

As he often said, cry for no fallen man who has fulfilled his duty. Remember him for his triumphs, and not another name on the list of the dead.

It was always spoken sombre over a dash of whiskey and a cigarette, but it stuck with Lina.

Taking a single breath to qualm her rattled nerves, Lina returned to the battlefield, no longer distracted in her thoughts.

This was a war, and it would show no mercy to anyone caught unaware.

Reading the panels, Lina kept watching on her fuel gauge with one eye while lining up a shot with the other.

Favouring sitting on the tails of the British fliers, the Germans proved their sneakiness in their tactics.

Hiding in the clouds and smoke and appearing on the heel of the Spitfire's, Lina took a leaf out of their books but kept low.

Lurking in the mist Lina followed the silhouettes that glided across the rippling channel waters, waiting for another Bf to come within her clutches, she glanced up when the crackle of her radio broke up with a voice.

"I have a Jerry right on my rear-" the transmission broke up with gunfire "- and one above,"

"Are you asking for help, or telling us that lady luck kissed your arse this morning?" Another came through the radio, a jovial laugh masking his rattled disposition.

Head tipped back Lina viewed the area through the atrium of the cockpit. Scanning for the pilot who was needing assistance in a somewhat roundabout manner.

"Well, I'm not asking for the cricket results am I?!" Barking back over the bullets that whizzed and whipped too close for comfort, it was followed by a round of rather unsavoury dictations.

Ears filled with joking and laughter; Lina felt blessed for the nature of these men who she took to the skies with.

Nothing shook them, they knew their chances, they gambled with their odds, and they did it with a smile and a joke.

Their manner of tackling these trying times made it easier to face whatever flew at them.

Each flight could be their last, but they did it without question.

Pulling up from the water, Lina grit her teeth, cutting up a Bf that was in hot pursuit of one of theirs was a risky manoeuvre.

If timed poorly, it would result in a collision; but the pilot was sharp, rolling off to the right when the nose of her Spitfire appeared through the haze.

"That one is sharp-" gunfire again broke the transmission "-watch yourself!"

Warning Lina of the pilot who vanished from her sight after her intervention, she looked around rapidly.

There was nothing, no shadows, no reflection.

Almost like the plane disappeared, or had retreated.

Knowing better than to believe he was gone Lina kept vigil on her surroundings; the white cliffs were coming back into view.

Dover and her infamous cliff face always reminded Lina why she was in the cockpit.

Tearing eyes from the landmark Lina's chest came short of breath when the Bf came back into view.

In a sharp glide, as though it was ready to make a descent, it came close, too close that it forced Lina to roll to avoid colliding with him.

With a rapid sidewards arc, Lina was forced upwards to prevent a nose dive into the water, and once the sea was no longer beneath the propellers, it came clear that she played right into the German pilot's hand.

Forced up it allowed him to manoeuvre behind.

Being fortunate to shake one off once, Lina could only hope that her ability and luck would favour her a second time.

Once more glancing over the infamous cliffs Lina pushed the Spitfire towards them, her daring just as bold as her cunning.

Staying in a straight line, Lina was forced to roll side to side to evade the hail of bullets, once or twice the ring of one skimming the wings struck her ears, but she kept focused on those damned white faces.

The German pilot was sharp, and hot in pursuit and Lina wondered if he would fall back in time, or be too consumed with taking her down to notice how close they both were getting to kissing the cliff face.

Pulling on the controls, Lina's timing was paramount.

In an abrupt upwards glide Lina flew the surface of the cliffs; hoping to hear the calamitous boom of the Bf crashing into them.

There was nothing, only the throb of the Spitfires dying engine power.

Inspecting the fuel gauge, Lina corrected her path once clearing the cliff top, the rolling green fields shining like an emerald in the sun.

Unable to take back out to the battlefield, Lina was between a rock and a hard place; she would have to land to avoid crashing down into the channel.

Still, the German pilot showed no sign of coming off Lina's tail, not even with the anti-air gunners manned and prepared to fire once Lina cleared over them.

With no choice but to leave it in the hands of the ground guard Lina waved at the soldiers when she came in low, turning the green pastures into a makeshift runway, she threw her attention on landing the Spitfire in one piece.

Wheels down they thumped and thudded on the grass, skidding as they sought a tract to grip and bring the plane to a halt, Lina held firm as she was close to throwing out the cockpit seat.

Bumpier and rougher than any other landing Lina ever attempted her jaw ached from how tightly it was grit.

Intermittent firing from behind reassured Lina that the German fighter pilot was being dealt with, but she knew that it was wise to stay focused on him too.

If they were still shooting it meant he was yet to be brought down.

Finally, the Spitfire started to slow down, the stretch of greenery dangerously close to running out, Lina could see civilian buildings' startings.

Crashing through someone's living room was not how Lina wanted to end her days, so she steered to the left and towards where an Army provision truck was parked.

Standing beside it with hands cupped over his eyes and watching the sky was a single soldier, oblivious to the rapid approach of Lina and the slowing propellers.

Tugging away the leather that covered her mouth Lina threw up the cockpit lid, finger and thumb in her mouth she whistled, loudly.

The soldier lowered his hands with a start, staring around the seemingly empty patch of land before startling at Lina.

Like he was making to start a dance in an odd jig, he soon dashed out the way, moving wide of the encroaching plane.

No longer in fear of chopping the man up with the blades that were only in the beginnings of slowing, Lina didn't dare breath.

There was not much manoeuvring space, and the truck would not move without the dancing soldier driving it.

Contemplating climbing out across the wings, Lina started to unhook her belts, one hand on the back of the chair she stood up, a foot on the lip of the cockpit; she stopped the familiar whistle of air and forced her to throw herself on the wing.

Far too close for comfort the Bf-109 whooshed over Lina's head, alight and spewing black smoke like an old train engine.

Clinging to the edge of the Spitfires wing Lina turned her head to catch its final descent behind a wall of trees.

Stunned that it was finally downed, Lina near forgot why she was sprawled on the plane wing.

Only the shout of the jiggly legged soldier reminded Lina that she needed to move, and quickly.

Standing, Lina slipped once before finding the grip to run down the slight slope of the wing, jumping clear just before the sickening crunch of metal overtook the blood thundering in both ears.

Running across the path, she'd cut Lina could smell the petrol, hear the start of a fire roaring.

Still, her boots pounded the grass and mud, body lowering when an old chipped wall came into sight Lina was barely rolling over it when the ground shuddered violently, and the air came like a volcano of metal and burning petrol.

Crashing down into a flower bed Lina covered her head with both arms when the explosion rained down; peppering the garden with hot shards Lina's chest clamoured when one speared the ground inches from her face.

Eyes burning from how wide they were pulled Lina could only stare as the colour of the Spitfire was eaten in black soot from the small flame licking its sharp edge.

"Well," a tired voice spoke over the fury of the explosion "I suppose I won't need to water the flowers no more,"

Untucking her head Lina peered across the small garden to where a set of Wellington boots stood, the bottom of a watering can swinging in the person's hand, she looked up.

Wispy strands of hair poked out around the elderly man's head, but its centre shone under the afternoon sun. A friendly smile sat on his thin lips, and the old man dropped the watering can, the worn gardening gloves in the other stuffed in the pocket of his trousers.

Carefully picking herself up, Lina glanced over the flowers she crushed. Their stems snapped, and petals half-buried in soil Lina scrambled out the small flower patch.

"So sorry," stuttering while wiping the soil from her hands Lina showed a smallish smile "I would have aimed for the nettles if I had known,"

Trying to laugh off the matter that she destroyed the old man's hobby, Lina glanced off over the small wall to where there was an effort underway to put out the burning plane and truck.

Though it was short-lived, her eyes soon wandered to the plumes of smoke above the trees.

"Our boys took that Jerry down. Clever ploy there you had," the old man spoke up, pride at the forefront of his croaking notes "Bringing him inland,"

Commenting that, Lina drew the German pilot inland, a hand rubbed the back of her neck. That part was not intended at all.

"Well," hand slapping down on her thigh Lina glanced up at the elderly man "I don't know whether it was my smarts or his lack of, but it worked out."

The man smiled with a slow nod, his knobbly fingers running under the braces over his frail chest.

"Never admit a fault in a plan that worked in your favour girl," with a small wink he nodded to the men putting out the fire "To them, you will be a pain for making them work, to us, you will be a brave woman, victorious in battle,"

The man stood straight, pride pulling his small shoulders back, his arm came up in a salute "May I see another day, thanks to you,"

Quickly Lina too pulled herself straight, returning the salute with much more gusto than intended "A pleasure, sir."

Slowly dropping the hand back to her side Lina could feel the final adrenaline rush start to die.

The battle was over, but her father was gone.

It was the sting of a fresh tear that made Lina look up, covering her want to cry by seeing the boys come back in overhead, she caught one or two of them waving.

Returning a small nod, Lina counted them.

There were ten; they flew out as sixteen.

Excusing Lina's downed plane, they had lost five men. Overall that was a small loss, but knowing there would be five less at the table for supper made Lina's stomach sink into her gut.

Who would not be there when they regaled their tales of heroics and dashes with death?

"Oi! You! Yes, you, you raving loony!" At a relatively brisk walk, a man called out, approaching the garden wall "What the bloody hell were you thinking?!"

Face red, and a vein in his temple rippling, the man wore the Home guard's uniform, one hand waving to the mess Lina left.

"Are you totally out of your mind?!" He barked again, spittle flying off his moustache lip "You could have killed civilians!"

"I could have," with a polite nod to the old man Lina hopped over the wall "But I didn't."

The man retreated a step, his eyes fixed and beady "You destroyed army property!" He stated a single finger practically up Lina's nose as he wagged it at her.

Far too tired to stand and argue with the man Lina sighed "I also took down a few of our German cousins, you going to shout at me for that?" Sliding off the radio still fixed to her ears, the flying cap came off with it, allowing her to shake out her hair.

The man's mouth pinched side to side as he looked for something else to shout about, but it appeared that he had nothing else and so turned sharply on his heel, stomping away.

Though his hand waved wildly in the air "You damn fly boys think you're untouchable, you wait-" he turned again wagging a finger at Lina "-I will have you beasted for this!"

Slapping the radio into one hand, Lina curled a fist onto a hip "You ungrateful little worm!"

Choosing to mutter under breath rather than engage the man in a war of words Lina watched the man walk away, full of piss and vinegar.

Lost on how to react to the two very different reactions to her crash landing from the two people she encountered, Lina considered asking the man for a lift back to base out of the equation.

Possibly there would be another army truck in the town or even a bus that would keep her from having to hike over an hour back to the airfield.

Searching the breast pocket of her uniform Lina extracted the cigarette pack.

Squashed but not totally damaged beyond smokable Lina gripped one between her teeth, before striking a match, watching as the fire showed signs of coming back under control, she sat down.

Legs crossed Lina stared out over the cliff edge to the waters. Somewhere out there was her father, sunk to the bottom of the channel.

Head down Lina sniffed back her emotions, holding them behind her grit teeth.

Letting the short blades of grass slide through her fingers, Lina chose to refocus her mind.

Has anyone gone to check the crashed Bf-109?

Was there a prisoner to capture?

A man to bury?

Neck craned Lina couldn't tell through the collection of trees whether anyone was over investigating.

Shoving the cigarette back between her lips Lina pressed on her knees to stand, pushing both hands in the pockets of her flying trousers, she walked wide of the gathered men putting out the fire; the red-faced man was still shouting orders to them.

Keeping a low profile while sloping past Lina turned attention to the wafts of smoke still curling into the sky.

They were thick and black, if their Jerry managed to break free, he would be stuck hiding out, with little hope of making it back across the waters to occupy France.

A desperate man was a dangerous one, and Lina had no idea if he was armed.

For certain Lina wasn't.

Stopping dead in her tracks Lina scoped the area for any free soldiers who could either arm her or accompany.

Over by another garden wall, a man was leaning on it, ankles and arms crossed, he puffed on the smoke that hung out the corner of his mouth, minding his business.

Raising two fingers Lina whistled over to him, waiting for him to finish looking around before finding her.

He pointed to himself to check that Lina was calling too, a quick nod confirmed that it was.

With an attitude like he wanted not to have been disturbed the man pushed off the wall, an army-issued rifle picked out the grass, Lina guessed she struck some luck with finding him.

Slow and almost meandering it was only when the man came closer that Lina realised his height was not an illusion of distance; the man was a damned giant.

The man stopped suddenly, head shaking back like something caught him by surprise, the cigarette fell out his mouth.

Curving a brow Lina gave herself a once over. Was she covered in mud?

"A female pilot?" The man spoke up once she gathered himself and started walking again.

Eyes rolling left to the right Lina raised one shoulder "Last I checked, yes." So it was her gender that surprised the man.

Scratching at his beard the man nodded slowly, like he was impressed "Can't say I've seen any, not who was not just auxiliary any way," shouldering the rifle the man laid a hand on his hip, there was a lazy and very laid back presence to him.

"Well, count yourself lucky, you just have," with a smile Lina examined the man.

Handsome, and obviously possessing some rogueness for keeping a less than clean-shaven appearance -something that was insisted upon- the man wore a crooked smile.

It felt like his mouth held secrets by the way he was smiling at Lina.

"Well, I'm impressed, lass. You have more balls than most luring that German inland," he stroked his beard as he spoke "You have the home guard having kittens over there," thumbing to the people he mentioned, his head cocked, waiting for something.

Arms spread wide Lina sighed loudly "Why thank you, at least someone appreciates my chaotic genius."

Taken back briefly at the heavy sarcasm, the man quickly recovered, laughing loudly.

"Aye, don't take it to heart, I'm not mocking you," he countered, both hands holding his waist where it narrowed "Anyway, I don't suppose you called me over for nothing?"

Finding it hard to take the man's words as a compliment, Lina cared not for his apology; it was half-hearted anyway. "I obviously wanted to admire you a little closer," once more using her sharp tongue, a grin ripped up one side of her mouth when his cockiness vanished.

Soon smiling the man rubbed a finger between his nose and top lip, potentially a display of bashfulness, he steered his eyes from Lina's head, down, lingering around her chest, before finding her boots.

"Well, I wouldn't even need a drink to consider you," he responded, the hand coming away from his face showed that the smile was far from bashful, but cocky.

Face close to being hotter than the fire blazing a few feet away, Lina choked on her own breath.

Damn the man; he got Lina off guard with his unsubtle flirting.

Coughing to clear her throat Lina avoided eye contact. Something the man picked up on rapidly as he started to laugh to himself, his head snapping straight.

"I wanted to check on the downed plane," hiding her embarrassment behind the reason for calling the man over Lina nodded to the trees "But I didn't want to go unarmed."

Turning to the trees himself, the man slid off the rifle, settling it in -what Lina oddly noticed- were rather large hands, it made her look down at his boots; they too were of considerable size.

"It's true what they say you know?"

The man speaking made Lina look up "About what?"

A slow smile caressed the man's mouth "About big feet…"

Skin close to becoming an inferno Lina turned away sharply as the man once more broke down into laughter, one arm coming out to nudge her side gently.

"C'mon, the longer we stand here shamelessly flirting, the more chance are Jerry has on finding somewhere to hide,"

With fingers pressed and kneading the centre of her forehead stressfully Lina held out the other "I was not flirting." Rebuking his suggestion sharply Lina barely looked up as she too started walking.

The man snorted "I think you were, or at least attempting, lass," he countered calmly "Though I guess you're more accustomed to a gentleman than us working-class type,"

There was only some truth in the man's observation, Lina was the daughter of a wing commander, and so the men in her squadron held a tendency to be a little more formal.

Thinking again about her father, Lina felt her eyes pulled to the left, once more searching what was his watery grave out in the sea.

"I am more than accustomed to working-class males," Lina may have been caught short with the man returning her playfulness a little more direct than most, but she was far from naive.

He turned slightly walking much like a crab on a beach; he moved with ease in the side stroll "Here I thought you were a pure little daisy lass," tutting gently, he shook his head.

Not quite so ruffled this time around Lina held a small smirk on her lips "You sound disappointed?"

With a slight nod, his shoulders sagged like he was genuinely disappointed by the prospect Lina was not entirely innocent in virtue.

"I am a little, I would have taken great care in enlightening your body," he answered with a slight smile.

It came so sincerely, and though Lina barely knew the man, she was sure that had it not been him saying it, she would have been offended by the lewdness of it.

The man carried himself with confidence and some arrogance, but it was not displeasing, unlike some other men.

Watching the tree line come closer Lina pushed up the single band on her left hand, wagging them in the air.

"I'm afraid such a chance will be forever unobtainable," the ring was her mother's, but it worked as a suitable deterrent and Lina knew it should have dashed the man's jesting hopes, but it looked to do quite the opposite.

"I never turn down a challenge," he replied, hazel eyes catching in a strobe of sunlight, it ignited them, sending the colours through a spectrum of golds and browns.

Stunned by the man's admission, and the intoxicating hue of his eyes, Lina swallowed her brassiness.

It was never Lina's intention to shamelessly flirt with the man, or even give off the perspective that she could be enticed, but to bring him along to check that they didn't have an enemy soldier running loose.

"Eyes on the prize, Mr." Reminding the man why he was there, Lina saw her mistake in the choice of words too late.

With a slight laugh, the man bit down on his lip briefly "Oh they already are, Mrs," turning around he carried on forward, a quiet tune whistling from his lips.

It was shameful, but when he called Lina, Mrs, her heart fluttered, almost like it would not have minded the idea of being married to this Goliath of a man.

Silently scolding herself, Lina shook out the idea.

Closing in on the flaming plane Lina could smell it. Burning petrol and melting metal, the air became warmer, sight hazier through the thick smoke.

Covering her mouth, Lina followed the man through to the small clearing.

Cautious of being crept upon Lina turned, watching their backs as the man turned in a wide arc around the plane gripped in an inferno.

While he did, Lina looked up, checking that the pilot had not ejected and been caught in the trees.

There looked to be no evidence that he had no discarded parachute, but there was plenty of time to hide it.

A sharp whistle made Lina turn to where the man was focused on one spot of the plane - the cockpit.

Head shaking the rifle pointed to something just out of Lina's line of sight.

"He's roasted." The man confirmed solemnly, a slight pinch in his mouth.

Relieved, but equally saddened at the news Lina didn't speak but instead listened to the crackle of the flames, a part of her hoping the man's demise was not from them.

Enemy or not, no man deserved to be burnt alive.

After a few minutes the man took a step back before walking back to Lina, the rifle once more on his shoulder, he slid one hand in his pocket, the other held out to Lina.

"Elijah Zacharias," introducing himself, Lina took his hand, shaking it firmly, much to his apparent surprise "Lina."

Their hands lingered in each other's for a little while, before releasing and falling back against their sides.

"No mention of your last name?" Elijah queried with some interest as to why she kept it quiet.

With her tongue poking between her teeth, it soon swept over her bottom lip "Maybe the next time we meet; I will tell you," mentally berating herself for the light flirtation Lina looked off to the side, though quickly brought it back to centre when Elijah answered.

"I was hoping there would be a second meeting," with a hand again stroking in his beard, Elijah gazed skyward "Maybe tonight? There is a small pub just up the ways, and there is no harm in a drink between friends, right?"

"We are not friends," resting her weight on one leg, Lina felt her hip sway out to the side, her body posturing in a more appealing fashion like it was responding to his subtle suggestion of its own will.

Elijah took notice, eyes narrowed and mischievously examining Lina "Well I won't lie, I am hoping for more than friendship from this chance encounter,"

Lina felt the heat again, though not on her face, but somewhere far lower on her body.

Thinking herself mad, possibly far shaken than first thought by what happened up in the sky, Lina shook off her posture, standing upright and almost rigid.

"I'm afraid you won't even be finding friendship," Lina dismissed Elijah, turning around "But thank you for accompanying me, and it was a pleasure meeting you." Keeping things short and to the point, she made a rapid retreat.

Half expecting the man to make another comment, Lina was pleased and disappointed that he didn't.

Once more arguing internally, Lina ran the heel of her hand over her brow; what on earth possessed her to act oddly still a mystery, she subsided it for the more pressing matter of finding a way back to the airbase.

Breaking out the trees, Lina's head shot up when a loud, irritating horn broke up her thoughts.

Catching sight of the Tilly coming across the stretch of grass, Lina wasn't sure whether it was luck on her side or not when it swerved to a stop a few paces from where she stood.

Leaning across the seats, the passenger door swung open, the man leaning on an elbow, he said nothing when he met Lina's eyes.

Part of Lina was in shock at who was driving, the other in an odd mix of elation and sadness.

They didn't need to speak a word; he knew already, he must have to drive out from where Lina was based to find her there.

Weak-kneed Lina was only kept from crumbling on herself by reminding herself that her father told her not to weep for those who died fulfilling their duty.

It was hard to do, but Lina stiffened her jaw to keep the wobble at bay.

Taking a deep breath Lina approached the Tilly, slipping into the soft leather seat, she sat rigid for a moment.

"When did you get back?" Turning to the man in the driver's seat, Lina scoped every inch of him, checking for any possible reason he was back from duty so soon.

Deployed three months prior Lina was not expecting Vilem to be home from his tour of duty for another six months minimum.

Vilem's hand closed tightly over Lina's squeezing it almost like he needed reassuring that she was there and not some spectre or figment of his imagination.

Staring straight ahead, Vilem's dark eyes looked darker, blacked by something he struggled to speak of.

"Vilem?" Sitting forward, Lina searched Vilem's face, watched his jaw quiver fiercely "What happened?" Attempting to hold his face, Lina froze when he flinched from her touch.

After a few seconds, Vilem blinked, shaking his head "Nothing." Taking the hand away from Lina's it gripped the steering wheel hard, the knuckles turning white in his effort to hide the tremble in his body.

Perplexed by Vilem's nervous demeanour Lina sat beside him in silence, wondering if it was wise to attempt to touch him again she got the sense that he would flee the car if she did.

Never witnessing Vilem so shaken up before, Lina felt at some loss how to proceed when he leant over suddenly, kissing her forehead.

"I'm sorry-" the pistol pressed sharply to his temple, Lina tried to reach for it "-Forgive me."

Ears ringing with the echo of the gun Lina's surroundings wobbled, the heat of Vilem's innards splattered across her face, it stung her eyes.

Arms suspended Lina refused to look up at Vilem's face, instead transfixed at the pistol held loose in his bloodied fingers laid in his lap.

Finally, it came, the scream tearing like hot blades from her chest, it became a desperate wail when taking Vilem's face in her hands, sweeping away the blood and fleshy lumps as if it would bring him back.

A rush of air cooling the bloody mess that coated Lina's skin was the only indication she had that she was no longer inside the Tilly but strewn like a helpless lamb on the grass.

In a crumpled heap, Lina could only watch the people who were previously tackling the blaze of her spitfire drag Vilem out of the car.

Body lowered with care some of the men turned away, while others held their heads, muttering their words of Vilem's cowardice to end his life.

Water dumped over Lina's head created a vacuum in her chest, stealing her breath in the shock of cold, it sobered her.

Lina stopped swaying on the grass when a firm grip took hold on a shoulder, steadying her body and keeping it from collapsing further.

What could have caused Vilem to end his life?

Why did he come all the way to meet Lina just to steal himself away from her?

Gripped in a chill unrelated to the drenched clothes that clung uncomfortably to her skin, Lina took a pinching grip on the wrist of the arm that held her shoulder.

War was ugly and spared no one's feelings, a fact that was made painfully true that afternoon over the white cliffs of Dover when Lina lost a father, and then a brother. 

  
  



	2. The Eagle & The Shrew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Called into the Air Force Administration offices, she receives the unexpected news that they request her to leave. At first, confused it becomes apparent that the actions Vilem took a week earlier hold repercussions.
> 
> She decides to head back home to Dover with no other option but to take the leave as ordered.

The bench was not particularly comfortable; it made Lina fidget more than usual, the cap on her legs thrummed by her fingers she inspected the clock on the wall.

Over an hour spent waiting to be seen, Lina still did not know why they urgently called for her.

That morning a telegraph arrived.

A request of immediate presence in the Offices of the Air Forces administration.

Odd as it was for them to call on a simple pilot, it was a further oddity that it was the admin department and not one of the command offices.

Still, when a summons was made, it could not be refused; not unless the individual was dead of course.

Tapping a heel on the polished wooden floor Lina could feel the tightness of her uniform.

Usually, in the more comfortable attire of the fly gear, Lina thought better of showing up to what would possibly be a formal meeting looking less than exemplary.

Though there was no current Wing Commander to reprimand Lina should she have chosen to do so.

Out of the sixteen who flew out and the eleven that returned less than a week before, they lost their Wing Commander and their flight lieutenant.

Left with only a flying officer and pilots, they were awaiting a replacement.

Which was possibly why Lina was so restless while waiting to be seen.

Would they be asking Lina to accompany their new Commander back to base?

It wasn't uncommon for a pilot -female or not- to be the ones to collect replacement commands.

Remembering why they needed replacement, Lina choked on her breath.

Their previous Wing Commander was Lina's father; his plane gunned down over the Channel they were deployed to defend.

Fingers stroking across her neck, two slipped inside the collar of the shirt, loosening it to allow a freer flow of air.

"Miss—?" A prim spoken woman interrupted Lina's thoughts "I'm terribly sorry, I have forgotten your name." She concluded, finishing her confident stride with an outstretched hand.

Startled by the rapid introduction, Lina blinked at the hand before taking it, standing as she did.

"Please, just call me Lina," returning a polite smile while tucking her uniform cap under one arm, Lina peered back at the woman questioningly.

Quiff slightly askew, the soft autumn curls came a little loose at the sides, her make-up obviously recently refreshed.

"I am Primrose Raleigh," she introduced herself with a smile "Secretary to Sir Betsworth, head of the Royal Air Forces administration." She turned, one arm sweeping towards the slightly open door "He will receive you now," clasping her hands at her front, she walked back towards the door with the same confidence she came out with.

Able to view the back of the woman, a slight sigh came from Lina's lips. With times hard and material scarce, many women had to find alternative means to dress with the sudden lack of stockings.

One such method was painting their legs with old teabags and drawing on the seam with eyeliner.

A method Miss Primrose Raleigh must have been none too enthusiastic about, or by the finger marks left on her calves and the smudged seam line, someone was passionate to remove.

Covering a small laugh with a cough, Lina followed after Primrose, one hand pulling down the bottom edge of her jacket, she touched her hair once to check it was in place before entering the office.

* * *

**-x** _-_

* * *

Air claustrophobic from the dust that coated every surface, Marcus covered his mouth and nose with a cloth, wiping a finger across a painting in the hallway.

It was thick, oily even as he rubbed the clump off his finger with a thumb.

Whoever once owned the home left in a hurry.

Built-up far too much for being left to fall into disrepair since England joined the war, Marcus guessed it stood alone and abandoned for close to a decade.

Even the cobwebs that dipped like party banners from every corner and lampshade wore a decoration of dusty grey clumps.

Knowing that no one would come calling on the door put Marcus at some ease, but not by much.

Side burning from the close to death meeting with a tree when he ejected from his plane, Marcus limped another step down the hall.

There was going to be slim hope to find any form of food here, but at least he could rest and make some effort to patch up his wound.

With three doors and a set of bowing stairs, Marcus took a stab in the dark and guessed that the door at the end of the hall would be a kitchen.

Using the wall for balance, Marcus took each step with care, the boards creaking under him, there was some worry about them collapsing beneath his weight.

Still, Marcus pushed onward until he was at the door that obviously was once well looked after, but was now nothing more than a peeling shade of disgrace.

The bronze handle groaned under Marcus's hand, the door obviously warped by the leak that stained the ceiling just above, he took in a breath before throwing a shoulder at the old wood.

Marcus was obviously not as in good a shape as the door. Close to doubling over with the pain that stretched from the shoulder and down his side, Marcus placed a hand on the wall to ground himself.

Blinking away the small black and white dots that zigzagged across his eyes, Marcus shook his head as if it would shock them away.

Forehead caught in a scrunch Marcus considered the reasons behind his being there.

Pursuing the enemy pilot as far inland as Marcus had was a grave error of his judgement, one that was usually solid and without many flaws.

If Marcus were honest, it was more curiosity about the pilot's fearless attitude. Intrigued by how far the man would go to catch their enemy unawares.

Though calling the pilot, a man was wrong, as proven on seeing them climb out the cockpit as Marcus flew overhead.

Even through the smoke spilling out the engine of his plane, Marcus could see enough to detail the pilot that was almost his undoing as a woman.

Wondering how the story would sound on his return that he literally fell for a woman, Marcus stopped short of laughing. Ribs aching already, every breath was a fresh wave of pain; so laughing would be agony no matter the reason.

Drawing in a deep breath, Marcus readied himself to tackle the door once more. Marcus steadied his legs with one hand on the adjacent wall and the other on the handle before trying again.

* * *

**-x** _-_

* * *

Blindsided by what was proposed, Lina could only stare back at the almost mischievous faced man.

"I'm sorry Sir," Lina started, adjusting herself in the chair "But, you want me to take leave?"

Harold Betsworth was known to be a kooky man - and apparently a charming one if the smile he gave Primrose was anything to go by - but this was on a whole other scale of kooky.

"Yes. In light of recent events, God rest your father's soul-," Betsworth spoke softly, crossing himself, before looking almost fatherly at Lina. "...And with the unfortunate incident with your brother," there was some reluctance to mention Vilem "I believe some time for recuperation is necessary."

Stunned by the suggestion, all Lina could do was gaze back at Betsworth.

What could make Lina so unique that she would be considered to leave at a personal loss?

"Forgive me, Sir, if I speak out of place, but..." she trailed off, thinking wisely on her words "Is this because I happen to be a woman?"

It was widely known that though the women were called into the fields, factories and auxiliary that it was a rare phenomenon for a woman to be an active combatant.

Especially in Lina's case.

If not for Lina's father's subtle influence, she would have only been an auxiliary flyer.

Harold peered back at Lina, a smile hiding under the brush of his moustache. "My dear, the fact you're a woman is not the reason behind this-" he pointed upwards, at nothing. "-However the powers that be, wish for you to take a short break," he explained with a regrettable tone.

So it was the opinion of the higher-ranked officers within the Air Force who wanted Lina to leave?

Refraining from acting petulant, Lina managed a strained smile "This is because of Vilem because he committed—!" Choking on the word, the memory, Lina closed her eyes for a moment, needing a second to compose herself.

Facing the wall, Lina stared at a single point. A fleur-de-lis. It was painted gold, on a backing of vibrant emerald green.

After a short time in silence, Betsworth tented his fingers on the table, resting his chin on the tips "It is for that precise reason, yes." Confirming what Lina suspected he smiled, it was sad, pitying.

Suicide was quite the taboo - common but never spoken about.

For a Naval officer as high ranking as Vilem was -or rather, had been- it was seen as shameful that he chose to take his life, rather than die in the face of the enemy.

Worse even than those who stayed at home as conscientious objectors.

"Fine." Lina agreed, albeit unwillingly "If they think I need some time, I will take it," with a courteous smile she stood from the chair "Now if you will excuse me, Sir," remembering to be respectful of Harold's title, Lina pulled herself into a salute.

With a slight nod, Harold dismissed Lina with a warm smile "Be thankful for this time you have been given," he spoke, "Many will never see their home again."

Hesitating at the door, Lina swallowed the lump in her throat. Betsworth was right; thousands would never be coming home, possibly many more.

"I will," Lina whispered, "Thank you, Sir."

Closing the door, Lina placed the cap back on her head, adjusting it until it sat right, a shaky breath soothed the nerves that had her hands trembling.

It was time to go home, not the small flat Lina had in London, but the home she was born in and grew up in until pneumonia claimed her mother.

Vilem and Lina's father had not coped well in the wake of his wife's death, the house held too many memories, but he couldn't bear the thought of selling it.

Now that Lina was not only a woman but without immediate family, she saw no reason not to go back to the place that at one time had been her whole world.

The idea that it would be alone, and without the very people who made it so special left a gentle aching in Lina's chest and a bittersweet taste on her tongue.

Disappointed that she would not be heading back to the barracks, Lina left the administration offices slightly deflated than when she arrived.

A few weeks away from duty would fly by, Lina was sure of it.

* * *

**-x** _-_

* * *

Marcus's assumption of a kitchen hiding behind the door was correct.

After some negotiations with the door, it had sprung open, and as it did, Marcus was hit in the face with a cloud of dust and stagnant air.

Inspecting each cupboard and drawer, Marcus was not entirely displeased with his findings.

A positively antique bottle of TCP was found under the sink and an unopened whiskey bottle in a small cupboard beside the old range cooker.

It was not much, but enough for Marcus to make a start on cleaning up his side.

Shrugging out his uniform, Marcus teased a finger over the torn skin. It wasn't deep at least, an inch or two at best. It stretched from Marcus's hip, up to the waist before veering around to his back.

Stretching a hand along his back, Marcus found the tear in the skin ended a few centimetres shy of the spine.

With a soft exhale, Marcus tested the taps of the sink, turning both.

A dribble at first and an undesirable shade of rusted brown, the pipes spluttered and coughed, rattling loudly until a thin stream of chalky water came through.

Deciding it best to let the water run for a while to clean the pipes, Marcus considered the peeled and stained label of the whiskey bottle.

By its weight alone, it looked untouched, and Marcus knew that whiskey did little more than become a little rougher on the back of the throat when left for a time.

Popping out the cork Marcus floated the opening beneath his nose to get a whiff - it smelt like burning wood.

Thinking better of taking a sip until the large slit in his skin was at least cleaned Marcus placed the cork back and set the bottle down on the side.

Holding the lip of the counter, Marcus eyed the bottle of TCP with a soft grimace - it was going to hurt a whole lot more than it already did once he used the antiseptic solution.

With no cloth or wadding to use to clean up with, Marcus looked at his flight jacket. The uniform would be too easy a give away to keep, so ripping off the sleeve was just the start of hiding evidence of his affiliation with the Luftwaffe.

Using the small flip knife kept in a pocket, Marcus slit along the shoulder's seam, pulling the fabric apart before cutting out a rough-edged section.

Unscrewing the cap of the antiseptic Marcus poured just enough to dampen the makeshift cloth.

Wanting for the process to be over with, but cautious not to aggravate the slash on his skin, Marcus wiped the pungent-smelling liquid over his side with some care.

Sucking in a sharp breath and clenching his jaw, Marcus paced through the newer burning stinging that plagued his body; thankful at the very least, that it was no longer bleeding.

Tossing down the cloth, Marcus took his uniform jacket, removing the pins and his small personal effects before opening the range cooker's first door.

Inside it was surprisingly well kept, dusty, as expected, but obviously, the person who once lived there took pride in the care of their home.

Throwing in the jacket and bloody rags, Marcus flipped open the lid of his lighter, a thumb sweeping across the engraved Reichsadler.

Much too far behind enemy lines, Marcus knew better than to keep anything that would give him away too early.

Suspicion would already be held by his name alone, and the risk of adopting an alias had far more cons than it did pros.

Dousing the jacket in some of the TCP Marcus threw in the lit lighter to the oven, taking a step back when a small blow out of flames licked the edges of the range cooker.

Thankfully the house was somewhat isolated from other homes. At the end of a long winding road, there was a small chance that anyone would come by.

Garden long overgrown, and gate so rusted that Marcus had to climb over it painfully, he was sure that he would be relatively safe for the time being.

The only issue that Marcus would face immediately was the lack of food.

* * *

**-x** _-_

* * *

Priory station, Dover, was surprisingly busy for the late afternoon. With France's occupation, the ferries that ran from Dover to Calais were all cancelled accordingly, so it was a surprise to find the station quite so bustling in what was now nicknamed 'Hells Fire Corner'.

Hand on hip Lina placed her luggage down by her feet, dressed in civilian attire for the first time in what felt like years, a small scoping glance was given to the snippet that she could see of her Hometown.

Dover was just as dull for all it was worth, as it had ever been and still far too hilly for Lina's liking.

Walking around the town as a child always felt like some grand hiking adventure, mostly where Lina lived.

Opposite the station was the Priory Hotel, the owner Mr Sutton apparently was fined the year before for allowing light to be seen after the blackout.

Laughing subtly at such a thing's equal stupidity and the importance of its necessitation, Lina hoped that the need for the blackouts would be short-lived.

Pulling out a cigarette Lina surveyed the patrons who were partaking in an evening drink through the windows, some were even standing outside enjoying the still present sunshine.

Business looked to have slowed none for the Hotel, and Lina could only hope that rooms were still available to rent for the night.

With the absence from Lina's childhood home stretching to a decade, there would be a need for more than just a spring clean; it would be a dusty hell that she was going to walk into since the death of their housekeeper some six years previous.

Not entirely up for tackling such a challenge just yet, Lina decided that spending the night in the Priory would be a much better option.

Taking up her suitcase Lina crossed the small street for the doors of the Hotel, stopping when a short whistle caught her attention, and with only a slight adjustment, it didn't take long to find just who was trying to flag someone down.

With the two fingers still clasping the cigarette, they pointed at herself to clarify -even though Lina somehow knew already that it was her being hailed for.

Once more with the casual, overly relaxed walk in pace, the giant man approached as he had the week before.

A cigarette in his mouth, and a slight show of surprise.

"You're in civvies?" Elijah observed the same rogue-like smile taking hold of his mouth.

Head cocked, Lina, shrugged a single shoulder "I'm on leave," she flicked the ash from her cigarette.

There was little else to say, and it was the truth.

Elijah crossed his arms, a softness crinkling the edges of his eyes as a smile came to his mouth ", And you just happened to come back here?" There was a slight teasing in the question and cockiness in his smile.

A brow arched, Lina's lips became a softly amused smile "Well, this is my hometown,"

Elijah relaxed a little, though a cheeky grin formed "And here I was hoping you came back just for me," he feigned some show of disappointment "Though, as you are here, we could always get that drink?"

There was a subtle charm to Elijah, equal to what seemed to be a roguish nature.

Looking up at the Priory Hotel, Lina contemplates the offer. The weeks would certainly pass quicker with friendly company, and if Elijah were as entertaining at length as he was in short bursts, it would make for a welcome distraction.

"Sure," Lina agreed softly "First round is on you?" with a smile she gave a small shrug of a shoulder when Elijah looked taken back for the slightest of moments before a wide grin took up half his mouth.

"Oh, I was planning to pay, don't you worry," Elijah answered with a slight nod "Might not be the hoity-toity type you're used to, but I know how to treat a lady."

As the word 'lady' parted Elijah's mouth, he made a rather grandiose show of bowing, one arm sweeping forward to indicate the door "And of course, ladies first," he smiled with a small wink.

Caught between a desire to laugh and slightly impressed by the show, Lina played along with a small curtsy.

Though Lina wished it were otherwise, Elijah played witness to what was both her finest and lowest moment.

It was unfamiliar territory for Lina; the sense of vulnerability she displayed that day to a total stranger was not an endurance she wanted to have experienced.

Glancing briefly at Elijah once he stood naturally again, hesitation itched at Lina's feet.

Was it wise to spend time with a man who was not only a stranger but knew far too much about her already?

"I will join you in a moment," Lina mentioned with a small smile "There is something I need to tend to," pointing to one end of the bar where a fair-faced woman stood, Lina, parted ways from Elijah.

Approaching the bar, Lina barely managed a word before the woman turned and hollered loudly across the room.

"'Ere! Look who it is! It's Richard and Martha's girl!" The woman -who Lina was sure she did not know, shouted for all to hear across the bar, silencing it- "She's all grown up, you don't 'half look like your mother, blimey!"

Suddenly feeling rather hot in the face Lina could only stare back at the woman like a stunned deer.

"I haven't seen you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper," the woman leant on the bar with one arm "Terrible thing about your mother, that really did cut your father deep...how is he anyway ol' Dickie?"

Whether it was the room or Lina, everything seemed to sway and spin. Mouth dried up, Lina couldn't breathe, let alone speak.

"You alright love?" The woman asked - or at least Lina thought she did.

Lina wasn't sure how, but it felt like someone had taken the floor out from under her feet and she couldn't stop the fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Priory Hotel is an actual pub/hotel in Dover & while I was researching it, I discovered that the owner at the time, Mr Sutton, was fined for showing light during the blackout.
> 
> Taken from the Dover Express and East Kent News, 29 September 1939.
> 
> \- Henry William Sutton, Priory Hotel, Station Approach, was fined 10s. for allowing light to show from the hotel at 8.15 p.m. on 4th September.  
> P.C. Steggles said that the light was coming from the public bar door, which was wide open.  
> Defendant said that he opened the door to let some fresh air in as the place was like an oven. He had had the lights attended to since. -
> 
> I thought it was an interesting little piece of information, so I added it in while writing.


	3. Doodlebug

Tucked away in the corner with a teacup in hand, Lina perused the scrumptious morning spread.

There were small potted jams, tea cakes, freshly baked bread and a little jug of cream.

All things that should not have been so readily available as they were rationed quite soon after the outbreak of the war.

"Eat up love," the landlady encouraged while walking by, a steaming teapot in hand "After yesterday you need some energy," patting Lina's shoulder, the woman carried on across the small dining room.

Reminded about the unceremonious passing out the afternoon before, Lina's brow pinched; it was a mortifying experience.

Waking up in a foreign room some hours later in the night, Lina's head felt like an aeroplane rotary was pounding at the skull.

All of which was topped off by the presence of a man Lina was starting to think held no concept of manners or decency.

"Good morning, my little doodlebug," Coming from behind Elijah reached over Lina to pick up one of the teacakes.

Ducking away, Lina watched Elijah in both amazement and agitation when he occupied the chair opposite.

"You have some audacity," starting to speak a little too loudly, Lina dropped to a hiss when an older and slightly prim woman glanced at their table. "I should report you for fraud, and harassment," placing the cup down on the matching saucer, Lina couldn't help but be infuriated in Elijah's presence.

Pausing mid chewing, Elijah pressed his finger and thumb to his mouth before swallowing with some struggle "Fraud?" Querying the accusation while taking the teapot and pouring himself a cup, there was a slightly mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Assuming the persona of innocence, Elijah feigned ignorance poorly, the corners of his mouth were creased in the effort to restrain a smile.

Upon waking late in the night and discovering that not only was Lina moved to a room above the pub but not alone, Lina spent some time quizzing Elijah on how he came to be in the same place.

"I am not your wife." Clarifying the accusations' cause, Lina smacked away Elijah's fingers when he attempted to sneak a second teacake.

Shaking the hand that Lina slapped, Elijah finally let the smile come full force to his mouth "Well," he tilted slightly in the chair, leaning on one side and searching in the breast pocket of his shirt "You're not my wife, yet," he countered striking a match.

Blinking, a quick shake of the head showed Lina's disbelief for what she just heard.

This man was impossible, infuriating and held no sense of shame.

"There is no yet about this," Lina dismissed the suggest swiftly "Neither will there be a future chance of such a thing," raising a hand to keep Elijah from speaking any further, Lina could feel the heat of humiliation start to leave a rosy tint on her cheeks.

In less than a day, Lina had passed out in a pub full of people and apparently gained a husband.

Elijah's face crumpled as though Lina's words wounded him genuinely "Here I thought our love was mutual, was I wrong?" He asked, sincerely.

So sincerely that it left Lina speechless long enough to catch the muttered 'How shameless' from the table over.

Turning to see the whispering onlooker, Lina was soon scowling back at Elijah "Stop it." Leaning in close to keep anyone else from hearing, Lina's lips puckered when Elijah too leaned in with a grin and a hushed: "No."

Remembering that it would be improper to throw the teapot's contents over Elijah a quick kick to his leg beneath the table returned unexpected results.

Tanned in colour -possibly from some previous labouring- Elijah became pale, close to translucent as his lips thinned to a narrow line.

Knowing well enough that Lina did not kick Elijah in a way that would create so much pain that he would lose colour, she lifted the table cloth to peek under the table.

Wearing the standard issued army slacks, a patch no more than the sixpence size was darker than the rest of the left leg trouser.

"Are you wounded?" Lina inquired while setting the cloth back in place, smoothing out the edge that she rumpled.

Holding the cigarette tight enough that it curved over his fingers, Elijah exhaled a shaky "Yes."

Picking back up the teacup Lina made no effort to hide the delight of her smile "Good," she took a sip "Well deserved I would say,"

Showing no sympathy, Lina sat straight and politely sipped the tea with a half-lidded gaze.

"Have you no sympathy?" Elijah queried as the colour started to return to his face, the cigarette squashed in the ashtray.

One hand placed delicately to her chest in the pretence of an insult; it was coupled with a blunt-edged smile.

"Of course I don't," Lina quipped with a slow roll of her shoulders "To have sympathy means that I would care about you in some manner," finishing the tea but being sure to leave the dregs, Lina placed it down in time with reaching for her handbag "And you sir, are someone I will never care an ounce for,"

Sitting back in apparent shock, Elijah craned his neck to peer up at Lina when she stood from the chair, fingers drumming the table.

"Did we just get divorced?" The smile came slow, unravelling like he was savouring it.

Though Lina didn't want to and tried to look away before it became apparent, she smiled.

Elijah was improper, unrefined, far too forward in too many aspects, but still, he was roguishly charming.

One finger held up Lina turned back to answer Elijah's ridiculous question but was stopped short when she discovered that he was no longer sitting, but stood up.

Stood up and positioned perfectly to catch Lina's mouth in a surprise kiss.

A hand placed on Lina's waist swept her closer to Elijah, yet it was not forceful.

Frustratingly, Lina knew that should she pull away, Elijah would not resist, and yet, she stayed in place locking lips with a man who she had known for less than a day.

* * *

- **x** -

* * *

Crab apples, by any other description, were bitter to the core.

One eye closed in a scrunch, Marcus's body shuddered as he suffered another bite of the unpleasant fruit.

After cleaning up the laceration that spread from hip to near centre of Marcus's back, he prioritised finding sustenance over rest.

Back garden overgrown and brimming with wild thorns and weed flowers, Marcus was mildly relieved to find an apple tree at the very bottom.

Swallowing the barely chewed apple, it was chased down with a sip of the whiskey; and Marcus wasn't sure what tasted worse.

Knowing that Marcus was in no position to be picky, but actually grateful for the slithers of luck that preceded his shortcomings the afternoon before, he ate the apple down to its core.

Throwing the leftovers back into the garden to rot and rejoin the earth, Marcus wiped his hands together.

Apples would not suffice for long, soon Marcus would have to risk venturing outside.

Able to speak and read English allowed Marcus some advantage, but not much.

In times of war, people were naturally suspicious, and Marcus was no fool to think that he would not draw at least a whisper or glance should he try and casually stroll out in the street.

Marcus needed to think about a cover story, a back history, and carefully.

One small slip or discrepancy and he would be in even more a dire situation than he already was.

Picking up the chipped cigarette from the kitchen counter, Marcus lit it, careful to ration the small supply he held, the dryness of the tobacco burned his throat.

With little else to do, Marcus spent a portion of the morning discovering what the household.

On the second floor, there were three bedrooms and a bathroom.

One bedroom consisted of a double bed while the other two were obviously once for small children.

A young boy and girl lived in the house from the decoration style and leftover toys. And from the wobbly etching on the desk in the boy's room, his name was -or had been- Vilem.

Downstairs, Marcus found the dining room and living room.

Every surface covered in a thick layer of dust Marcus already deduced that the homeowners must have departed in a hurry, possibly to avoid some kind of debt.

There was far too much left behind, enough that Marcus could start to piece together the story of the people who once lived there.

They were a family of four until either illness, divorce or merely running away left the family of four as a trio.

Noticeably absent in later looking photos was the mother.

The brother and sister bore a strong resemblance to their mother; the girl held the woman's most prominent looks who birthed her.

Reaching the end of the cigarette, Marcus put it out on the wall, taking care not to leave evidence that the house was occupied he threw the butt into the wilderness of the garden.

Closing the back door, Marcus was at least thankful that a wardrobe in the master bedroom still had some clothes.

It was only a shirt, and the fit was a little tight, but Marcus could not spend the rest of his time walking around shirtless.

Especially not when Marcus would need to risk showing his face outside, and soon.

"You are a scoundrel!"

Turning rapidly, Marcus's chest became compressed when the faint shout of a woman reached his ears.

It was not from inside the house but close to it.

Ambling from the kitchen to the living room, Marcus stayed clear of the windows, hiding in the shadow of the moth-bitten curtains to inspect the front of the house.

With the bushes lacking form, it was impossible to see the small road clearly, and all Marcus could make out was the blurred movements of someone in the small gaps of the bushes.

However, what Marcus lacked in sight he made up for in hearing.

No longer sounding so distant, Marcus could better hear the conversation -or rather argument- that was unfolding.

* * *

- **x** -

* * *

Brandishing a finger, Lina used the length of her arm to keep Elijah at a distance.

"Oh, I'm a scoundrel now?" Elijah asked in a laugh, his smile only growing.

What happened at The Priory pub was a slip in Lina's judgement and morals.

Allowing Elijah to steal a kiss and then lingering in it was not on the agenda for the day.

"Don't act so high and mighty, you crook!" Lina shook her finger again or somewhat jabbed it at Elijah's chest "You are a fraud, and a fiend, and...and..." chest puffed up in indignation, all confidence in her words started to fail.

Elijah balanced his weight on one side, specifically the one that was not the cause of his limp "And?" He asked with a grin.

Never before had Lina encountered a man quite so confident in himself, like Elijah.

There was no attempt to hide that Elijah enjoyed every second of Lina's flustered state; he was even trying to provoke it.

"And?" Lina repeated back, hand falling back to her side to form a fist "And...you're a pompous arse!" Jumping forward a little as the insult slipped from her tongue, she soon doubled back when Elijah burst out in a fit of laughter.

Utterly lost how to handle a man like Elijah -even those she encountered in the Air Force were nothing like him - she stamped her foot on the pavement.

Becoming petty and petulant was unbecoming, but no one ever taught Lina or even warned her how to deal with a man who could so quickly go against the social status quo.

Close to tears with her frustrations, Lina inhaled a long and deep breath.

Allowing Elijah to rattle her nerves as he had was not going to help Lina at all, a cool head was needed.

Finally, Elijah quit laughing, or at least he managed to reel it back under control. Wiping under one eye, Elijah contained himself to occasional short bursts, before a slow exhale restored his composure.

"Pompous arse?" Head bobbing in some agreement, Elijah hopped a step forward "Not so much the lady you pretended to be on our first meeting, are you?"

Catching the mischief filled glint in Elijah's eye, Lina refused to keep biting his bait.

Turning to look away, Lina crossed her arms and held her tongue.

If Lina ignored Elijah long enough, she was sure that he would become bored and depart her company.

Not that Lina even invited Elijah to come along, he chose to follow after she stormed out of the Priory in embarrassment.

Softly, Elijah whistled when the silence crept on, and he took a limping backwards step. "A'ight, using a woman's ultimate weapon," he spoke with a chuckle "I am a veteran of the silent treatment," he added, almost like he wore it as some badge of honour.

Though the sickly taste of nostalgia overshadowed Elijah's efforts to gain a reaction, it gripped Lina's tongue.

Standing in a state of encroaching dilapidation, Lina's childhood home was a place she had not forgotten, but neither visited since her father made her leave.

Garden no longer a rich and dizzying array of colours of peonies, roses and tulips, it was a drab and knotted sea of weeds.

If her mother were still alive, the sight of the garden would have surely been the cause of her death.

Lina could distinctly remember how lovingly her mother would tend the garden, humming and singing as she did.

Gulping for a breath when a lump choked her throat, Lina tore her gaze from the ruin of the garden to stare at the pavement.

Stroking her neck in a hope to soften or even dislodge the lump, Lina kept the wobble starting in her jaw at bay.

Already Elijah witnessed Lina pass out; she did not want to slot another feather in his hat and let him see her cry.

"Doodlebug?" Elijah spoke softly, this time with no teasing "Are you alright?"

Releasing an exasperated breath, Lina's shoulders broke out their tension "Stop calling me that." It was not a kind pet name, and Lina didn't want it attached to her.

Eyes flicking briefly to Elijah's they quickly departed to stare at the pavement once more, her jaw more firmly pinned.

"You're trying to hide that little quiver-" Elijah reached out brushing a finger across Lina's jawline and forcing her to jut away from it "-And I admire that," there was a sincereness in his words, a truer one "But you don't have to live by the ethos of a stiff upper lip,"

Unconsciously Lina smiled, blinking away the starting of her tears.

This was not so much about keeping the stiff British lip, but her pride.

Lina was not just a woman; she was a pilot too, and not just for the auxiliary. No matter the cause, showing weakness was not an option for someone like herself, who held quite a prestigious title.

"Don't try the soft approach now," Lina mustered her voice "You're still a crook," side glancing at Elijah in time to catch the smile that broke across his mouth, she arched her brow slowly.

"I will chalk that up as a victory," holding up two fingers and splitting them to resemble a 'V' there was no shame in Elijah's smile.

Without unfolding her arms, Lina swung into the kick with great joy, flashing the same sign Elijah had only seconds previous when he lost colour once more.

"You may have won that battle-," Lina patted Elijah's shoulder sarcastically "-But you won't win this little war."

Leaving Elijah to hop over to the garden wall, Lina's smile fell when the living room window's curtain twitched.

Frowning softly Lina took a curiously led step.

The house was supposed to be empty and for quite a length of time.

Possibly it was a trick of the light, even a rat -though she hoped otherwise - that made it look as though the curtain moved.

Blindly reaching for the gate latch, Lina was forced to look down when it did not budge. No longer the black wrought iron of Lina's childhood but rusted, and with curling chips of paint, it refused to move.

Under any other circumstances, Lina would have climbed over without thought but dressed in a skirt as Lina was, and with a man present, she did not want to take the chance of accidental exposure.

Catching Elijah's eye that was still narrowed in a wince, a sweet smile finally graced her mouth "Could you?" Pointing to the gate, she raised a shoulder somewhat coquettishly.

Leaning backwards in a dramatic show of being taken back, Elijah's discomfort and pain caused by Lina's second kick of the morning vanished in a flash.

Sensing that something was going to be asked in return for the favour of opening the gate, Lina bent down to catch the ends of her skirt in hand, bunching it up around her thighs.

"I will do it myself." Quickly refusing Elijah's aid, Lina lifted a leg over the gate.

It wasn't too high, but high enough that Lina could only place the tips of her toes down on the path.

"Take your time," Elijah mused with some luridness "As much as you like, Doodlebug,"

Head coming up slowly to scrutinise Elijah took a few short seconds to understand why he was in no rush to see Lina climb over the gate.

Forced to lean forward while climbing the gate, the shirt came loose around Lina's clavicles, and Elijah had an excellent vantage point of view of what was hiding beneath.

"Scoundrel!" Hand flying up to push the shirt back, Lina knew her face was ablaze, it was scorching.

Casually, shamelessly, Elijah folded his arms, head pointing to a lower point of her body.

With the skirt hiked up further, the bottom of Lina's suspender belt was visible.

Elijah strolled, hindered by the leg again bleeding, before taking a gentle hold on Lina and lifting her over the gate.

Settling Lina on her feet, Elijah didn't attempt to hide the smirk on his mouth; it only seemed to grow when Lina flushed a second time heatedly.

Leaning over the gate Elijah's mouth brushed against the lobe of Lina's ear when he whispered into it: "You're spoiling me today, Doodlebug,"

This time was the final straw.

Rather than a slap, Lina closed a hand to make a fist and threw it up into Elijah's jaw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elijah’s nickname 'Doodlebug' was a term given to Germany's V-1 flying bomb, by the British public. They were also nicknamed Buzz bombs.  
> Though it did not appear until June 1944, the use of the nickname is a slight nod to them, and also that Elijah is essentially calling Lina a 'bomb' which just so happens to be a flying one. She's a pilot after all.  
> Also, with rationing coming into practice in January 1940, items like cream and jams due to rationing of things like milk and sugar, would have been hard to come by. However, with the blackmarket, and contact with a 'Spiv', certain items that were hard to comeby, could be sourced.  
> Spiv: In the United Kingdom, the word spiv is slang for a type of petty criminal who deals in illicit, typically black market, goods. The word was particularly used during the Second World War and in the post-war period when many goods were rationed due to shortages.


	4. A Friend Never Met

House in lacklustre and mournfully showing that it had not been tended for a long time, Lina took to the task of returning it to its former glory with gusto.

Paying in advance for a week at The Priory - which was discounted by the landlady for 'old times sake' - Lina was grateful for the distraction.

Asking neighbours to borrow tools for the hardier repairs and tame the gardens' wilderness, Lina was both pleasantly and not so pleasantly surprised to find that many remembered her.

All of them would declare loudly that Lina was the positive double of her mother before asking how her father was, and then Vilem.

Breaking the news that Lina was the only living member left of the family they remembered came with shocked gasps and apologetic sympathies.

Something that made Lina hurry to bring the conversations to an end with a promise that anything borrowed would be returned on Sunday.

Acquiring most of what was needed, Lina tackled the house one room at a time but left Vilem's old bedroom alone.

The memory of Vilem's death was still too new and raw, and Lina was not ready to face the memories of better times.

Already there was the presence of a constant lump in the throat from standing within walls of her childhood.

Old pictures left behind to gather dust would choke Lina when the smiling faces appeared from under the cloth's wipe.

By Wednesday, Lina was almost halfway through the restoration.

Resting the mop on a cupboard in the kitchen, Lina wiped the sweat from her brow; it was humid for mid-morning.

All windows open wide, and both front and back doors held open, there was a silent prayer for a breeze to come through.

When it didn't come, Lina's chest deflated in a sigh and the scratch of a match.

Shaking out the flame, Lina traded the cigarette from mouth to fingers as she took perch on the back doorstep.

Front garden resembling a garden rather than a proud housewife's nightmare, Lina was yet to attempt the wilderness out the back.

Chin in palm, Lina curled the cigarette to her lips every so often, taking long inhales while mentally planning how best to start with the garden.

Watching a line of ants marching, Lina's brow furrowed deep on finding what had the ants interest.

Apple cores.

Standing from the step, Lina stood over the brush with a hand on his hip.

Even from where Lina stood, it was evident that there were teeth marks on the cores, and they were not the gnaws of wild rabbits.

Resting the cigarette at the corner of her mouth, Lina crouched down, using a finger and thumb to pluck out the core.

Browned, a few days old at best, Lina soon threw it back.

Wiping the fingers on her slacks, Lina went back to a thought at the start of the week.

The dust was disturbed on many surfaces, noticeably were the boot prints that unsettled the grime that built up over the floors.

That was Lina's first clue.

The second came when opening the range and finding there were fresh ashes and a melted -to the point it was almost beyond recognition- lighter.

The house stood abandoned for a long time; there was always a chance that someone broke in for a short time; however, it was the freshness of the evidence that puzzled Lina and prompted her to call a locksmith.

There too was a pungent stench of TCP that permeated the kitchen.

Taking all things into consideration, Lina flirted with the idea that there could be someone in the house, there was still one room she refused to enter, and did not check since arriving on Monday.

"Good morning, Doodlebug," it came as a whisper, brushing too close to the lobe of Lina's ear, she tumbled forward.

Chest in a painful cinch, Lina dropped the cigarette as her feet stumbled around, trying to find even ground.

Saved - barely - from falling into a thicket of thorns, Lina could not only feel but hear the thumps of her heart.

"Woah!" Elijah sang cheerily, laughing softly "Easy there," the hand that caught Lina's upper arm applied a gentle pressure to bring her away from the thorns and set her on her feet.

Once satisfied that she would not need to make an intimate date with a bottle of TCP after plucking out thorns, Lina threw a glare over the shoulder.

Not since the Monday afternoon when Lina punched Elijah, had they spoken.

Even when Lina spent the evenings in the Priory drinking to blot out her thoughts she didn't offer, Elijah anything but cold shoulder when he tried to speak with her.

Elijah took a step backwards, one hand up as though it was some white flag calling for a truce between them.

"Here," Elijah offered out a cloth bundle that was nestled under his arm "Consider it reparations, for my behaviour." However, an attempt at an apology was being made; it didn't stop Elijah from smiling.

Eyeing the checkered cloth in some reservation, Lina folded back the corner to see what was inside.

"How did you get this?" Everything that was wrapped up neatly was rationed, and profoundly.

Scratching behind one ear, Elijah flashed his teeth in a roguish grin "Are you familiar with the concept of asking no questions, be told no lies?"

Elijah must have connections with a Spiv, was all that Lina deduced from his answer.

Being caught handling goods from the black market carried a hefty fine, but with so much restricted or impossible to buy, Lina understood why people would pay a little more for the finer things.

"Well,-" Lina spoke quietly, slipping past Elijah to head into the kitchen, to a particular cupboard "-I appreciate your gesture, but you should have saved your coin."

After noticing the jams and creams available at the Priory, Lina made some inquiries, which placed her on the doorstep of a person who could supply the town's black market goods.

"I get mine discounted-"showing the stocked cupboard that held everything from jam to actual eggs, a triumphant smile glazed her lips "-I could have got you a bargain," musing teasingly, she closed the cupboard doors softly.

Eyes owlish and not hiding their surprise, Elijah swayed out a hip, holding it "Discount, you say?" He asked, a crease forming in his mouth and brow.

Possibly Lina's wording made it sound more sordid than it was - though she had shamelessly flirted a few free packets of cigarettes out the man - whether it was as she made it sound, was none of Elijah's business.

Fingers flouncing as though to brush something away, Lina walked around the kitchen table "Benefits of growing up here," was all she said, caring out of the blue about what Elijah would think of her nature "It's never what you know, but who you know in small towns,"

Attempting to excuse away the wording used beforehand, Lina held back the small detail that actually allowed her such a proportional discount.

On Friday night, a date was not so bad to suffer through if it meant Lina could enjoy a few luxuries.

Noticing that as Lina walked, so did Elijah, she stopped at the kitchen table's top end.

Catching Elijah's inquisitive gaze and the crook of a frown, Lina smiled "Worried; I sold more than I bought?"

It was only a light-hearted jest, meant to mean nothing, but Elijah's worrisome look made it feel more like Lina was using humour to cover for a nonexistent sleight to his person.

"Well,-" Elijah paused, scratching the back of his head "-...Did you?"

Sure as sure that she was alive, Lina would have thrown something at Elijah if anything was close to hand for the insinuation.

"No." Blunt and to the point, Lina close to forgot that it was her own words that prompted Elijah to ask "I didn't invite you in by the way," raising an arm to point towards the front door, Lina flicked a finger "And I have too much to do, to waste time on suffering your company,"

Well aware that she was blowing hot then cold, Lina didn't much like how fuzzy the boundaries of her morals wanted to become when in his presence.

Elijah was a shameless flirt, and Lina knew that should she allow him the chance, they would be between the sheets at the drop of a hat.

An idea that Lina was not attested too, but actually, strangely, in some odd favour of; except that she suspected that Elijah would depart the second he had what he wanted.

Not a stranger to one night only intimacy, Lina knew deep in the begging part of her gut that she possibly wanted more than just a night with Elijah.

Coming out of her thoughts, Lina caught the start of a smile on Elijah's lips, gentle and trying to be discreet that he was happy about something.

"Not even going to let me stay for a cup of the tea I brought you?" Elijah quizzed in a fake show of hurt that quickly became a shake of his head "I can see that you're busy, Doodlebug," he mused over the unwanted nickname "However before I go, what do you say to join me Friday afternoon?"

The mention of tea made Lina highly aware that she was parched, and though taking tea in company was always better than alone, it did not hurry Lina to extend Elijah an invitation.

"Friday?" Lina double-checked the day Elijah was asking for some of her time for, a slow shake of the head refusing the offer, she already held plans for that day "I already have plans for that day,"

It wasn't a lie precisely, the date was not until six in the evening, but whispers would start if Lina were seen to be out with two different men on the same day.

Courting more than one man at a time was quite a social taboo, and Lina was not about to let herself be labelled as some harlot.

Elijah scratched his chin, making no effort to hide his disappointment "Determined to brush me off," he smiled, though it looked a little sad "Aren't we?" Posing the question in some nonchalant effort, it was the dullness of Elijah's eyes that gave him away.

Elijah could well be genuine in his efforts to gain Lina's attention, but from what she had seen already, and with the charm that came only from a man who knew how to woo multiple women, Lina kept hold of her doubts, and wits, when it came to answering Elijah.

"I'm sorry if that offends you," Lina kept her tone soft "But I have no interest in endeavouring upon anything with you," breaking the news gently, Lina thrummed the back of the chair that she was holding like some kind of support.

Openly and unashamedly showing disappointment at the news, Elijah looked away and out the kitchen door for a second before the smile that was more familiar took back its seat on his face "Is this because I called you Doodlebug?"

Infuriatingly, Lina wanted to be angry with his sudden mood switch, but she couldn't help the smile he roused.

Looking away and biting on her lip, Lina soon broke out in a laugh. "I was more annoyed by your telling people that we are married," it was quite a conversation to explain that they were not a couple, and even harder to put the records straight that she barely knew Elijah.

There was a smugness on Elijah's face "I needed to guard my territory," he crossed his arms, leaning on the back of a chair "And it seems to be working,"

Eyes narrowing when Elijah grinned like a cheeky teenager, Lina hung her head.

Lina was only going to be in Dover a few months, what harm could a short fling be?

"I'm not your territory," correcting Elijah's point of view, Lina held up a hand, finger extended "But-," she cut herself off, once more rooted in her doubts over whether allowing Elijah a chance was wise.

Elijah perked up a little, the grin falling to a confident smile "But...?" He prompted Lina, the mischief twinkle back in his eyes.

Elijah reminded Lina of a puppy at that moment, excitedly waiting for a treat.

"I am free on Sunday," proposing a day, Lina didn't need to wait for long before Elijah had swept around the table.

Once more stealing a kiss, Elijah broke away quickly "I will pick you up, midday?" He asked ever so casually that it was almost like he had not for a second time, been uncouth.

Cheeks warmer than seconds before, Lina was forced to look away to hide the heat Elijah gave her skin "Midday is fine." Rambling the response in a snap, Lina didn't like the nervous squeak that finished her sentence.

Bumbling away from Elijah and attempting to be nonchalant about the second stolen kiss, Lina paused with a hand in her hairline when Elijah looked up at the ceiling.

Brow furrowed deeply, Lina held back from asking what had Elijah's attention, when a board creaked as though a weight was taken off it.

Groaning loudly, it was followed by another wailing board.

"Is someone here?" Elijah asked, staring at the ceiling a little longer before looking down at Lina.

Shaking her head, Lina waved a hand, brushing it off "The house has been creaking and groaning since I came back," reasoning that it was just the boards expanding, Lina thought briefly about the apples "It's nothing."

Pleased for a distraction that allowed Lina's skin to cool off, there was still a deep crease of doubt on Elijah's brow, almost as though he did not believe her.

Eyes rolling Lina let an arm spring out, gesturing to the ceiling "Be my guest and take a look if you don't want to believe me," making the challenge with a small smile, Lina lowered the arm when Elijah took the invitation literally.

Laughing behind Elijah as she tailed his steps, Lina held the bannister when he stopped at the foot of the stairs.

"I'm not harbouring anyone up there," sweeping a hand to encourage Elijah to look if only for the purpose that she could laugh at him later, Lina met his still present frown with a smile.

Elijah took the first step with some care, examining the weakened staircase "I'm not under the belief you're hiding someone," he muttered, delivering a flick to the tip of Lina's nose "Just concerned."

Running a finger over the small sore spot of her nose, Lina glanced up the stairs.

Would now be a wise time to mention the fact there was evidence to suggest someone had been in the house?

Mouth open and ready to speak, it closed with a snap when the top step creaked under someone's weight.

Staring up the staircase Lina could feel her chest tighten, almost like a swelling of panic and surprise when a man Lina swore that she had not seen before rested on the bannister as though he was not out of place.

Tongue trapped in stuttering limbo Lina faced Elijah when he too looked back at her.

All words and thoughts clashed together in the myriad of Lina's confusion; her stomach lurched painfully when the stranger spoke in a soft, disappointed sigh.

"I didn't put that ring on your finger, for you to be bringing home strange men, Lina," speaking with a sense of familiarity, the man met Lina's shock with a shake of his head.

"Forgive my wife, she has bouts of strange behaviour," he continued, rubbing a thumb across his brow, as though the situation was of some stress to him.

Speechlessness held Lina's chance to defend herself prisoner, but already it looked as though Elijah's mind was made up.

"Figured it strange that she kept back her last name," Elijah uttered, bringing back the small flaw Lina made on their first meeting, "She did mention too that she was married, I thought it was a bluff,"

Like a bomb dropping, the other blunder Lina made when they met some weeks before on the cliff exploded back in her face.

Wearing her mother's wedding ring to deter unwanted advances, Lina dangled the idea that she was married to Elijah to do much the same to him.

Trying now to tell Elijah that the man at the top of her stairs -half dressed she noticed- that he was a complete stranger would only come across like some desperate plea to remove the tarnish she was brushed within, in Elijah's eyes.

"Get out." Trying to regain some control over the situation, Lina demanded that Elijah leave.

Something -upsettingly- that he did without argument.

Left in the small corridor but certainly not alone, Lina glowered at the man who took each step one at a time at what looked a leisurely pace.

"Who the hell are you?!" It came in a scream more thunderous than Lina even knew she was capable of.

Blankly watching Lina the man soon clicked his fingers.

"Of course," he held his chin "We never got the chance to meet," extending a hand in greeting, the man smiled "I am a friend of Vilem's,"


	5. Wilted Feathers

Whether it was chasing off the prospective lover or the mention of Vilem's name, Marcus was not sure, but the moment the woman took his hand, the corridor tumbled.

Executing an efficient takedown and pinned with far too much expertise for a simple civilian woman, Marcus's breaths became strained when a knee was dug in his back.

"Who are you?" Going straight to an interrogation, the woman twisted Marcus's wrist further while resting her weight on the elbow.

It was only after much consideration that Marcus chose to appear directly to the occupants of the house.

The chance to stow away in the night stolen when the old and gimmicky locks on the door were changed.

Breathing out through his nose, Marcus knew that he needed to tread carefully with every word.

"Marcus-"closer to gasping than speaking, Marcus didn't take too kindly to the woman increasing the pressure of the hand on his head, the heel grinding almost on his temple "-Buckler."

Giving up Marcus's real name was never on the agenda, or even a part of the mental plotting he spent hours dissecting and digesting; but the pain forking like hot blades under his skin, derailed all of his planning.

"How do you know Vilem?"

Follow up question expected, Marcus adjusted the eye that was not screwed shut, able to see part of the woman's face in the peripheral.

"He saved my life," it was here the lies would start, and Marcus would tread them cautiously "When my plane was downed,"

Weaving a story of being rescued at sea was the safest way to proceed.

At any point whether army, naval or air force, they would be at sea, and until Marcus could say with certainty which branch of the military Vilem was serving, it was the only story that would not be hard to sell.

"What ship?"

Marcus could only assume the woman expected him to trip up at this point with such a question, but he was no fool.

"I'm not sure, I was not conscious when found," possibly it was too convenient an answer, but Marcus needed to continue with it confidently.

The woman was quiet for a short while, and Marcus could feel her weight start to withdraw.

Thinking that she was about to release, was wrong.

Taking full advantage of the positioning the woman only raised her body to allow for the suffocating blow delivered to Marcus's side.

Short of breath and left with sickness from the sheer agonising pulsing of his ribs, Marcus could see small dark spots dancing across his vision.

If Marcus was in any doubt before it was violently ripped away now.

This woman had to belong to a military unit; there was no other possibility Marcus would consider for her in-depth knowledge of grappling and holding and attacking.

Even if Marcus were in a better physical state and not suffering from partial starvation on top of injury, the woman would be a fair challenge in hand to hand combat.

"Why are you in my house?"

Not allowing a second for respite the woman used the knuckle of one finger, twisting it on Marcus's temple and forcing him to grit against the newest discomfort she dished out.

However, it was within the question that Marcus's suspicions of her identity were answered.

When Marcus stood at the top of the stairs, he'd examined her quickly, but carefully.

It allowed Marcus to use the marriage plot due to the ring on her finger; it was also when he started to suspect that she was the grown-up girl he saw in photos.

Still, it was too early to presume that she was the same woman and not an uncanny lookalike.

"He told me that it was empty, that I could stay while I healed up," needing to think on the spot was not an issue for Marcus, the problem was if she saw even a slither of inconsistency in what Marcus was saying over how well she knew the man he was using as a shield.

Though Marcus was sure the woman was the sister of Vilem -whoever he really was- he held no clue as to how well the two knew each other.

"Vilem never called me by my name," the woman bordered on a whisper "So how do you know it?"

Here it was, the first test to find justified cause for her doubt.

"He only said that he had a sister, but that the likelihood of you turning up was small," Marcus was facing the first hurdle, and gamble.

One misstep could be costly "But he gave me your name, just in case."

Needing to pause for a breath, Marcus forced back the acidic bubble coming up his throat.

The woman looked to have held nothing back when hitting Marcus and feeling sick to the extent that he could actually vomit due to pain was something Marcus had never experienced before.

Starting to think that Marcus had possibly done the other man a favour in sending him running, he tried to remain focused.

"How long have you been here?"

This woman was relentless.

Discomfort ticking over to irritation Marcus managed to buck his head and remove her knuckle from the temple. "I don't actually know," it was three or four days from what he managed to keep a count on "I don't mean to be presumptuous, but could you give me some slack?"

Being held in a fixed position that was not comfortable from the start, Marcus's thinning patience was about to be at his detriment rather than the woman's.

Nothing spoken for a time, Marcus wondered if she even heard him, until his arm sprung free.

Marcus needed a little time to loosen up. Aching and cumbersome before he managed even to start attempting to get back on his feet.

Coming to sit on the floor, Marcus rolled the shoulder gingerly, massaging it with a hand a glance confirmed what he thought from the start.

The slash on his side was open and bleeding again.

"He's dead."

Looking up, Marcus was met with a fierce stare.

The woman's features were striking, accentuated by the hollowing down of her cheeks, and the eyes holding some odd glassy vacancy.

"He is?" Marcus didn't care, but he needed to at least pretend that he did.

"Mhm." Nodding, she curled her lips back between her teeth "He came out to see me when I was on the cliffs," she laughed, it was short, but it softened her face "Crushed some old boys flowers diving over a wall when the Spit went up in flames...pissed off the home guard too, so it wasn't all bad,"

Sensing that the woman was rambling rather than actually trying to tell him what happened, Marcus sat quietly, waiting.

"Managed to bring a Jerry inland," her shoulders slumped, hands holding onto her crossed ankles "He followed me back over the cliffs, which I only headed for cause my fuel was almost gone,"

At first, not particularly interested in what she was saying, Marcus's attention became solely focused on her as she carried on regaling the story.

From the pilot's overhead view that was the cause for Marcus's almost demise, he ascertained that it was a woman; and the longer the woman rambled, the clearer it became.

"...I lost my dad, and brother less than an hour apart,"

She gulped suddenly, like what she said only became a reality to her in that precise moment.

Head cocked, Marcus could only describe it as a tumultuous crash through a multitude of emotions that splattered across her face.

Wanting to steer the woman away from the alarming range of emotions, Marcus cleared his throat "You're a pilot?"

Though her head did not turn, her eyes snapped to look at Marcus side on.

"Yes. Not just auxiliaries," she answered "Flight sergeant,"

Handing over her ranking with some hostility, Marcus did not care to know it, though it was as handy as it was possibly about to be a deep and gouging wound on his ego.

"You said you brought a German plane inland?" Taking care not to show the aggravation, Marcus continued to massage his shoulder and wrist; using them as the cause for the scowl he could feel forming.

Slowly turning, she didn't smile or show much of a reaction to the potential feat achieved to bring Marcus's plane down, and himself.

"I did. The boys warned me that he was sharp," there was a pinch of a smile on her mouth ", Yet he pursued me over the cliffs," shoulders lifted in a shrug, she cocked her head "So either he was a complete dolt, or overconfident,"

Mouth pressed into a thin line Marcus refrained from remarking his intellect, or that he was overconfident.

Though learning that a mere flight sergeant, and a female one at that, managed to take Marcus, an Oberstleutnant of the Luftwaffe, for a fool withered his previous conceptions of the British Air Forces.

"Why did you say that we're married?"

Taking the conversation in a new direction allowed Marcus to shake off his tongue's bitter taste.

"I said it on a whim," Marcus responded dryly "I needed the chance to speak to you alone, and he seemed the sort who can't take a hint."

Catching the lopsided smile of the woman, Marcus wondered briefly if he genuinely had aided or thwarted something.

Beyond trying to break Marcus's arm and unknowingly handing a lifeline to an enemy pilot, she had not focused too much on the things he said that made the other man leave.

It led Marcus to look again at her left hand and the ring; it was familiar - or rather as familiar as a photo could allow.

"Your mother's ring-," it was more than a guess, Marcus could see clearly the leaf imprint that decorated the metal around the single diamond ",-Did you choose to use it instead of buying another?"

At the question of the ring, she looked at her hand "I'm not married," she sighed in some exasperation.

Browsing at the admission, Marcus knew it was both wise and unwise to become too familiar with her; still, he felt compelled to ask: "Then why do you wear it as if you are?"

Tucking the hand in the gap of her legs, a one-sided shrug raised the shoulder to her chin "I just do,"

Marcus could tell that there was more reason behind the decision but that she did not elaborate.

Laying a hand on the floor, Marcus begrudged the difficulty he had in getting up.

Far from healed only to be thrown around with far too much ease by the woman, Marcus was not entirely bitter about it.

"Here," a hand floated around Marcus's face, hovering in an offer of help.

Staring at the hand before meeting the woman's eyes, Marcus soon came back to watch her hand.

"Forgive me if I'm a little cautious here-," reluctant to take her hand a second time, Marcus heaved himself up ",-but the last time I took your hand you threw me on the floor,"

Both pride and ego suffering at both the woman's hands and tactics, Marcus needed to recuperate more than his health.

Curling the hand back a scoff came with a rough shake of the head.

"You came into my home and hid. Announced that we were married," she cocked her hip, chin jutted in an arrogant tilt "Be thankful tossing you around like a rag doll was all I did,"

From any other person or man, Marcus would have taken the words as pure unabashed gloating.

This woman, however, made an exception to Marcus's thinking.

It was not arrogance; Marcus had witnessed her flight over the channel and admired the presence of talent, a challenger.

Though they had not met in proper combat, she showed wiles and wit in luring Marcus, and he - not just as a man, but as a fellow pilot - would not deny her dues.

To follow up a brilliant display with another, Marcus could say without much regret, that he was not ashamed to be taken down not once, but twice, by a woman of her calibre.

"Shall we see how you fare when I am in better health," throwing down a proverbial gauntlet, Marcus felt the first smile in a far too long tug at the corners of his mouth.

Arms folded, and rocking on the heel of her boot, she returned the smile "Alright-"a hand offered, she carried over the confidence shown in her flight "-I never back down from a challenge,"

Taking her hand, this time assured that he would not end up on the floor, Marcus shook it firmly "Neither do I."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lina enrolled in the Air Force at eighteen (1933) after returning from her finishing school in Switzerland and last few years schooling in Sweden while her father was posted there with the R.A.F. After basic training (24 weeks) she was posted to the newly formed Eleven Squadron based at Manston, Kent, late 1933 to early 1934.  
> Reader was promoted to Pilot Officer in April 1935 when she was 20. Flying Officer in September 1937 and to Flight Lieutenant, August 1939.  
> She trained at Royal Air Force College Cranwell which was established as the world's first air academy November 1919. Though originally it was a naval flying training school, it soon changed after the separation of the Royal Naval Air Service from the Flying Corps. It was predominantly a place to train officers, but it also trained cadets too.  
> Superna Petimus - We seek higher things, is the motto of the base.


	6. Lost Little Birds

Sunday morning came around sooner than expected.

Packing up the suitcase in the rented room, Lina checked her mental to-do list.

The room at the Priory paid up with no outstanding balance, the items and tools borrowed at the beginning of the week needed to be returned and a short trip to the pharmacist.

Closing the case's latches, Lina sighed, the week past slower than expected even with all that happened.

Only a week passed, and there was still five months and three weeks more to go, and yet the purpose of awarding such a length of time off was shrouded in mystery.

There was more to Vilem's suicide, and Lina knew it, but any efforts to contact those who served with him were met with either a wall of silence or expressing that they could not speak of it.

Both the powers that be within the Navy and Government were at play and actively seeking to keep Lina from finding anything more than what she already knew.

Though Lina knew nothing.

Taking the suitcase from the bed, Lina checked that nothing was left behind and that the room was clean.

Stripping the bed sheets and opening the windows, Lina hoped to make the housekeeper's task a little easier that morning.

Passing through the pub, Lina stopped to say goodbye to the landlady in the small eating room.

"Thank you," Lina smiled, placing a polite kiss on the greying woman's cheek when she hugged Lina "I won't be a stranger, I like the evenings here,"

Every night Lina spent time in the bar drinking and socialising, seeing old faces and new.

"You will always be welcome here," the lady squeezed Lina's shoulders "Now go on, you have someone waiting for you," she added with a small wink.

Lina wasn't expecting anyone, and so, intrigued, she left the dining room.

Coming up the small corridor that separated the hotel area from the drinking establishment, Lina considered those who could be waiting to see her.

The bar was empty except for the bartender buffing glasses, and it left Lina a little confused as to who the landlady was speaking about.

The bartender flicked his eyes from Lina to a small corner that from where she stood, could not be seen "Over 'ere," he spoke with a little knowing smile.

Unsure why the bartender was smiling like he held a secret, and a good one, Lina took the short walk around slowly and stopped dead.

Dressed in full uniform, the cap tucked under an arm drew attention to the forearm's stripes.

"You have been promoted?" Lina asked, the newest notch in the man's ranking a surprise.

Paul glanced at his shoulder with some reservation "It didn't feel like an earned one," he expressed solemnly "They had no one else and no others to spare," brushing a hand over the stripes that marked him as a Wing Commander, it quickly fell.

Paul Thompson was, before the rapid promotion, a flight sergeant like Lina. Some months ago, their ranks earned on the same day; it felt like a small stab in the back to see Paul take not only a new position but also her father's old one.

"Congratulations," Lina swallowed back the bitterness, though it was hard "Why have you come here?"

At the question, Paul glanced at the bartender who was still keenly listening, even though he was pretending not to be.

"Shall we walk?" Paul suggested, setting the cap back in place on his head.

Agreeing with a small nod, Lina stepped out into the early morning sun with a hand cupping her eyes. It was bright and blinding.

"Here," Paul lightly placed a hand over Lina's where it held the suitcase "I will take that."

Removed from the hand, Lina thanked Paul, though wanted to remind him that he did not need to act so formally, she kept the little snippet back.

Free of the case, Lina walked a little way in silence, taking the small hill that would lead her home in pensive quiet.

Why Paul was in Dover was a mystery Lina hoped would be a short-lived one.

"How are you?" Paul asked, making small and polite conversation.

Peering out from under the hand that blocked out the sun, Lina soon laughed "You're not here to check how I am feeling," catching on to Paul's subtleties in the months they worked together, she lowered her hand "So out with it,"

Paul glanced around them before coming back to focus on Lina "I have heard unsettling rumours," Paul kept to a whisper "About your brother,"

At once Paul held Lina's whole attention, brow knit in worry and curiosity she stopped walking to face Paul "Tell me," pleading with the man who was a dear friend, Lina placed a hand on his forearm "Please,"

* * *

**-x-**

* * *

Being used for manual labour was not - at any point - part of Marcus's thoughtful planning.

Throwing another clump of weeds and tangled dead flowers in the wheelbarrow, Marcus wiped the sweat from his brow.

Since -what Marcus found out was Wednesday- he was put to working. Under normal circumstances would not be an issue, except Marcus's conditions, were far from ordinary.

With no clue if there was a contact to speak with, and too risky to attempt travel to London without appropriately forged papers, Marcus was stuck being the handyman of a woman who was possibly a little too charitable for the times.

Permitted to stay providing Marcus earned his keep, Lina had said it with a shovel in hand and a look towards the garden he was currently trending.

Deciding that it was best to stay put in a place that not only provided shelter but food and time to heal, Marcus resumed digging up the weeds.

Gardening was a relaxing pace to being in the skies, and while he was allowed the small luxury of time to relax, it also let him figure some things out.

Though Lina spent the evenings elsewhere, a detail she did not elaborate much about, she would come back around mid-morning, continue to make repairs until late evening, make an evening meal and then leave.

Foot balanced on the ridge of the shovel blade, Marcus flexed his hand on the handle - Lina seemed to be a well-rounded woman in many respects.

Fixing the pipework, door joints and even showing some carpentry skill with the stairs, Marcus could only guess that being raised in a male-dominated environment served her well.

Though Marcus partly suspected it was more than Lina's father and brother's influence, that allowed her not to rely on a man.

Digging the shovel into the dried dirt, Marcus was sure that the task of clearing the garden would be finished by the end of the day, and though it had been arduous, he didn't want to be left idle either.

Bigger than first look, Marcus rested for a second on the arm of the shovel.

The fence long collapsed, the garden spilt out into the fields behind, but there was a row of blackberry bushes that survived the suffocation of weeds, and they were in full bloom with the fruits.

It wasn't the bushes that held Marcus's interest though, but the small bird on a branch.

Marcus's knowledge of birds was significant enough to know that this one that seemed to be staring at him was not a native of England.

A bluebird.

Meeting the small beady eyes, Marcus watched it curiously as it cocked its head as though it was lost - yes it was far from home.

The bluebird took flight when a knock from the front door disturbed it.

Cupping a hand over his eyes to track the bluebird's flight, Marcus lost it as it flew into the path of the sun.

Head falling as his hand did, Marcus waited a moment; answering the door would be unwise.

To Marcus's knowledge, only Lina and the man who was there when he came out knew that he was there.

So unless Lina locked herself out, there was no telling who was on the other side of the door.

Another knock came, a little louder than the first, and by the raps, a little impatient.

With a twist Marcus took the shovel from the dirt and placed it against the wall, smacking his hands together to remove the loose soil, he wiped them on the towel pinned in the hem of his trousers.

Though Marcus could pretend that he did not hear it, it would double as suspect behaviour if he tried too hard to avoid contact with other people.

So far, Marcus was lucky that Lina chose not to look too deeply at his story, and even then he held strong suspicion that it was only due to his mentioning her late brother, Vilem.

Reaching the door, Marcus opened it after a little mental preparation for what was to come - though it soon became a moot point.

Unlike on their first encounter, Marcus could not tell the man's height who was standing on the doorstep, until now.

There were a few inches between them at best, but enough that it allowed the man to look down at him.

"Ah," Marcus had not prepared for this element, and though he should not have, there was some amusement to be found "Can I help you?"

At once thankful that Marcus was not forced to use any words that carried his accent, his English's acceptable use served him well in not raising any eyebrows.

Never catching the man's name before, Marcus could only assume that he was there to speak with Marcus about Lina or look for her.

"You were not the person I came to see," the man answered with a false smile "So afraid not,"

Marcus nodded once, holding his chin "I imagine not," returning the insincere smile "She's not here at the moment,"

Truthfully, Lina was later than usual, and though it should not have been a cause for concern, for Marcus it was.

Lina was both Marcus's lifeline and cover with current events and unwilling accessory to aiding him.

The man nodded, glancing over Marcus's head before coming back to peering with heavy scrutiny at him.

"You're not married to her," he asked, with a large scoop of doubt "Are you?"

Marcus was not an immature man, usually.

However with little entertainment, and much frustration from being stuck on enemy territory and incapable of making it to his, and Germany's, benefit, he saw no harm in playing with the man a little.

"Would it make your consciousness clearer if I told you otherwise?" Marcus responded, slipping both hands in the pockets of his slacks.

The man's head cocked sharply "My conscious?"

Marcus nodded once "Yes," he clarified "Pursuing a married woman so shamelessly must leave quite a smear on it?" He remarked with a small tut "Unless you have none, and ruining happy homes is something you do to pass the time?"

The man's eyes crept a little wider, not by much, and should Marcus not have been looking for the subtle reaction it would have been missed.

"I think all things considered," the man started softly, a cigarette placed at the edge of his mouth "The fact your wife-" he put extra emphasis on the word, stressing it "-chooses not to mention you dictates quite a different picture from a happy home,"

Marcus concurred, though only in part "On the contrary, in times like these, and speaking with strangers, keeping back certain things is wise," he stroked his chin looking down on the man's boots "Especially from men like yourself."

Everyone knew that talking carelessly could be costly in times of war, and so to learn that even he didn't know Lina's last name was just another feather in the woman's hat.

Though it did bring forth the wonder as to why Lina kept hold of it so astutely.

Awaiting the response from the man, Marcus paused in listening when the wind carried a softly sighed: "Oh hell."

Marcus was not the only one to have heard it, and with a small sidestep when the other man turned, it cleared his view of the garden path.

Finally, and with good timing, Lina was home. Though certainly not alone as a man baring military uniform stood at her side.

Should Marcus have been Lina's husband, there would most certainly have been a concern by how many men she kept company.

"Welcome home," Marcus greeted with a faint smile, "Love,"

* * *

**-x-**

* * *

Taking the scenic route back home to allow proper time with Paul to discuss the rumours picked up surrounding Vilem, a surprise was found on her home's doorstep.

Elijah and Marcus were engaged in conversation on the doorstep, and by the tones, it was not for pleasantries and getting to know one another.

"Friends?" Paul asked softly while putting the suitcase down in the gap between them.

Friends was not a word Lina would have used to describe them, and the shortly sighed "Oh hell," drew the two men's attention sooner than she hoped.

Meeting Marcus's smiling visage sharply with the unwarranted greeting for her return, one hand closed in a fist.

"Husband?" Paul asked, making no effort to hide the apparent surprise at the concept.

Lifting a hand to slap Paul's arm, and theoretically chase away the idea Lina shook her head "Far from," keeping to a slight whisper, she eyed Paul briefly when he started to laugh "I shall introduce you though,"

Paul straightened, the slight rocking on his heels a familiar sight "Oh, I imagine you should,"

Lina acquiesced the request happily, throwing out one arm "This is Elijah Jones," pointing to Elijah, there was a small scowl on his mouth "...And the husband," she uttered with sarcasm "Marcus Buckler,"

For some reason, that made Elijah turn and look at Marcus. Who smiled back a little too slyly.

Introductions over, Lina caught Paul's eye with a small smile "I am not married to him, but,-" leaning in towards Paul while whispering she pointed out Elijah "-Their first meeting of each other, Marcus decided it would be funny to call himself my husband,"

Bent down a little to better listen, Paul, nodded slowly "You haven't corrected him?" He asked with a small grin.

Lina wanted to correct the misconception, but Elijah was absent from the Priory for the rest of the week.

"Not yet," Lina sighed "But I imagine I shall have the chance soon,"

Paul stood up, adjusting his cap "Well, I hope you manage to," he smiled "The lads would be most upset if you hadn't invited them to your wedding at least,"

Throwing an elbow into Paul's side after his jest, Lina tried to hide the smile behind a sigh.

"They would only want to be there to see if I went through with it," it was a long-running joke among the squadron that Lina would never marry, and if she did, she would make an escape at the aisle "For that matter, tell John he still owes me five bob,"

Paul glanced over to Elijah and Marcus with a polite nod before turning to face Lina.

"Time is upon me," Paul mentioned with a glance at his watch "But I will be in touch should I hear more," placing a hand on Lina's shoulder he squeezed it "Come back soon, the lads are unbearable without you keeping them in check,"

Cracking a smile, Lina pecked Paul's cheek "I will be back sooner than you think," she mused, though it was slightly forlorn "Don't kill them in the meantime,"

Waving Paul off, Lina could not delay for long.

Still standing on the doorstep were two problems: learning the information Paul collected would be a pleasant distraction.

Lina didn't want to fester on the news Paul brought surrounding the Vilem. In fact, Lina didn't want to think of Vilem or her father as a past existence at all.

It was easier to think that they were still here, just away on tours of duty.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Lina picked up the suitcase beside her feet.

Opening the gate, Lina eyed Marcus sharply, giving him a silent request to leave them alone.

With only a small smile, Marcus closed the door.

Still not too sure on the man, Lina appreciated that Marcus was not a lout who only spent days lounging around.

Helpful in many ways, having someone in the house would chase away the lingering ghosts of a long-gone time.

"Who is that man?" Elijah was not dancing around any mulberry bushes with his questions, and by the sharp-eyed stare, he wanted immediate answers.

At the very least, Elijah was direct and not tiptoeing around the matter that he was annoyed by the potential of being led on by Lina.

"A family friend," Lina sighed "He's staying for a short time."

There were no lies within the explanation; Marcus would only be allowed to stay until he could return to his posting.

Though Lina was yet to ask what one Marcus was with, it had fallen by the wayside in the process of getting the house back into liveable order.

Elijah shifted, the hands holding his waist flexing "Only a friend," he double-checked with a sharp eye "Is that all?"

Sighing, Lina nodded "Yes, just a friend."

Elijah took a hand to scratch his brow "He's been having me on a wind up this whole time?"

Not present for their most recent conversation, Lina could only assume by Elijah's question that Marcus continued to play the idea that they were more than recent acquaintances.

"Your fault for being so gullible." Lina quipped tartly "And believing my character to be easily questionable,"

It was possibly the worst part of the whole week that Elijah so easily believed that Lina was a tart who would string along several men for her pleasure.

Observing Elijah's wounded ego and embarrassment came like a small victory for Lina.

Flattered by Elijah appearing jealous over the idea that Lina was not obtainable, the downside was the light in which he shone her.

"Do you want to come in?" Closing the door's distance in two steps, Lina found the door was not closed but left on latch.

Head coming up from the silent moping, Elijah lifted his brows "Does this mean I am forgiven?"

Eyes rolling at how swiftly Elijah showed hopefulness, Lina pushed the door "Not yet," she shook her head "But you can redeem yourself,"

Stepping into the hall, it took a second to adjust from the changing light.

Coming in behind, Elijah closed the door "How can I redeem myself?" He asked though it held a crassness.

"Well," Lina held a clear view of the garden from where she stood, it was close to being finished "As long as you're not opposed to it,"

Walking forward, Lina left the suitcase beside the stairs, coming to stand in the kitchen. She noticed that Elijah needed to bend a little to get under the doorframe.

Pressed up to the kitchen counter, Lina cocked her head slightly when Elijah boxed her in with his arms.

"I have something particular in mind," whispering the words when Elijah came in close once more, Lina was more aware this time what he was attempting "Just for you," she finished with a sweet tone, placing a finger to his lips to keep him from taking another kiss.

* * *

**-x-**

* * *

Scooping up another pile of weeds and dirt, Marcus threw it on the mountain gathered at the end of the garden.

Hands clapping together, he wiped the sweat away on his forearm.

Sun at its peak, it beat down without relief upon Marcus's back, and at some stage, he'd been forced to take off his shirt to continue working.

"So-," pausing when the shovel stabbed at the dry earth, Elijah didn't look up ",-you are friends with her brother?"

Lina was certainly wily, roping a second man into clearing the garden.

Marcus considered Elijah's question; it was best not to allow varying stories to be told "I only knew him a short time," taking another harmful to the pile, Marcus tossed it down "But he saved my skin,"

Telling a tale that Marcus was posted in Africa and rescued from the sea when Vilem spotted him, it proved a crucial lie to tell.

Though Lina didn't outright say anything to suggest it, it appeared as though Vilem was at sea close to Africa.

Whether fortune was showing Marcus favour, he was not sure, but he knew well enough not to expect too much of it.

Luck always ran out.

Elijah used a boot and a slight twist to break the top layer of soil - and like Marcus - at some point had removed his shirt.

It allowed Marcus to see that Elijah's stomach was a crisscross of scars.

"Lady Luck really kissed you behind that day then," Elijah smiled, slinging an arm over the shovel handle.

Unsure whether it was a genuine comment, or a sarcastic observation, Marcus only nodded.

Not often one for conversation, Marcus found the man's efforts to keep it up a little tiresome.

"How about you?" Marcus turned it back around, not wanting to be under the spotlight too long "What's the story of the limp?"

Many men had scars and more, and usually a tale to accompany each one.

Elijah dropped his head to look at the leg "Ha!" The single laugh came out with visible force "That..." he trailed off.

Seeing the deep reservation to speak about it, Marcus narrowed his eyes "Still too raw?"

Like with every gallant tale of how a man won a scar, there were a thousand that were never spoken.

Marcus knew well enough that the things witnessed in conflict could break even the strongest of men; sometimes beyond repair.

Elijah looked off across the garden, and the fields behind "Raw seems too weak a word for it," he admitted in a whisper.

Elijah's profile was one that was becoming a haunting regular on the faces of men Marcus met.

Lost in the memory of an incident or discovery that no amount of training could ever prepare them for.

"Sorry I asked," Marcus murmured, picking up the shovel he leant on an old plant pot.

Elijah shook himself out, digging around in a pocket "It's alright," he mumbled around the butt of a cigarette "Someone was bound to ask sooner or later,"

Pausing when Elijah offered up the packet, Marcus took one.

A short break would not harm, all that was left was to finish piling up the ripped out weeds and breaking up the topsoil.

Using the pole of the shovel as a rest, Elijah took the cigarette from his mouth pointing at the back door "How the hell did we manage to be roped into this?"

Fair as it was, Marcus's reason was less about his arm being twisted by the wiles of a woman, than paying his keep.

At least that was what Marcus told himself, and Elijah.

Scoffing a laugh, Elijah hung his head "Plays a good hand, that one," muttering it more to himself, there was no resentment in his tone.

Whatever it was going on between Elijah and Lina, Elijah's perspective looked to be a one-track mind goal.

It was noticeable in the short spurts that Lina came out to check the garden's progress what Elijah was after.

"How long would you graft for a woman?" Marcus inquired, turning over the plant pot to sit on it.

Elijah tilted his head, considering the question "Depends," he tugged on the hairs of his beard "A few weeks at most," using his fingers to count, it came with a lopsided smirk.

It wasn't Marcus's business, but he hoped that Lina would not allow this man what he wanted.

Only if for the sake of gloating about it later that Elijah was unsuccessful, there was also the matter that Marcus held some respect for the woman too.

Albeit, Lina was harbouring an enemy soldier without knowing it, Marcus didn't believe her to be a complete fool.

For Marcus believed that should he not have mentioned Vilem, the outcome would have been surely different.

There too was the subject that Lina refused to offer up her last name. Something Marcus found quite peculiar.

Could Lina's last name hold some secret?

Intrigued by the prospect, Marcus only noticed he was being spoken too when a set of fingers snapped in front of his face.

"Daydreaming were we?"

Standing between them Lina held a hand to shield her eyes "Come inside," she requested before departing "I made lunch,"

Flicking a look to Elijah, it appeared that though they were vastly different, they were both still men.

"Not going to pass up on food," Elijah quipped, tossing aside the shovel.

Agreeing that the timing was spot on for mentioning food, Marcus put out the cigarette before taking his shirt from where it hung on a branch.

Though manners dictated that Marcus should dress appropriately for taking a meal -especially in the presence of a woman - he was still slick from the sweat of his labour.

Marcus relied on the warm weather to dry his clothes overnight when he washed them with only one shirt and trousers.

After all, Marcus had no money or access to any, and soon he would need to pay his way and acquire clothing.

Lina would not allow Marcus to ponce off her, and rightly so.

Marcus was a man who through any means would look after himself, rarely did he - like he was currently - rely on anyone else.

* * *

**-x-**

* * *

Putting both Elijah and Marcus to work in the garden allowed Lina to return all things borrowed as promised - and make a small thanks for their hard labour.

Table laid for lunch was not grandiose, but sufficient.

Fresh bread, cheese and ham, there too was tea and some condiments for the sandwiches.

"Oi!" Slapping Elijah's hand when he tried to touch the plate of ham Lina moved around the table to the sink, turning the taps "Wash your hands,"

Stepping aside when Elijah did as he was told, Marcus's eye was given to ensure he did the same.

Neither man wearing a shirt Lina was thankfully not an easily embarrassed woman around the male figure.

Working alongside men who would regularly stroll across the fields and aero domes shirtless, Lina gained a thick skin to it.

"Tuck in," telling both men to help themselves, Lina dipped on the tea brewed, though she had slipped a little extra into hers.

Not needing to be told twice, Marcus and Elijah sat down like they had never been fed - though Marcus showed more reservation than Elijah.

"Thank you," Marcus showed gratitude before helping himself to a more refined sandwich.

Smiling, Lina took a seat "You're welcome," replied with a small smile, a flick of the eyes brought Elijah into view "At least one of you has manners."

Elijah's mouth was full, but he still beamed a smile.

"See, the problem with the labourers is that they are not taught anything more than their trade," making the slight dig at Elijah's low-class birth, Lina hid the smile behind taking a sip of her tea.

Sitting up straight, with a butter knife balanced over his fingers, Elijah continued to chew, trying to clear his mouth to speak.

"I noticed much the same," Marcus came in observantly "Can't fault the work ethic, but you wouldn't take them anywhere beyond a pub,"

Lina nodded, showing some shameful disdain "My point precisely," she sighed "I am more accustomed to men who dress when eating at a table."

Hollowing down her cheeks when they want to smile at the double criticism of their imperfect manners, Lina found that only one took it in their stride.

"As am I," Marcus agreed in some tone of regret "But I have long wondered how those of other classes live, and wanted to share in the experience,"

Lina dropped her chin in the palm of her hand "An experience best obtained by assimilation with one, I presume?" She tilted her gaze to Marcus, waiting.

"Quite," Marcus did not look up as he spread butter on a piece of bread "What better way to obtain a wholesome and genuine experience, than breaking bread with one of them?"

A thump stole Lina's chance to continue the playful rhetoric, and a look thrown across the table showed that it was not taken in quite the same jest as Marcus and Lina.

"Well isn't this a beautiful display of pompous gentrification," Elijah slewed, one arm folded on the table "I'm not beneath you,"

Lina's brow crooked "Are you not?"

"Your table manners suggest otherwise," Marcus concurred "There too, is nothing wrong with wanting some class while eating,"

Lina could tell that the slight tag-teaming was not fair on Elijah, but all the same, it was a little amusing.

"Proper etiquette while dining makes for an enjoyable time," Lina spoke, before finally starting to make up a small plate of bread and cheese "It's a basic requirement for many," she added "Though I suppose a more relaxed environment where no one judges you on how you hold your cutlery can be the same,"

Elijah took a long, moody sip of tea.

"I think calling him out on his low standing hit a nerve," Marcus whispered with a slight lean in towards Lina "Perhaps we should change the subject,"

Though Marcus sounded as though he was attempting to be fair, the small smile showed otherwise.

"A change of subject would be for the best," Lina agreed, before throwing out another below belt remark "We would have to keep it simple though, don't want to confuse him,"

Marcus looked off as he partially choked on his food and a laugh, a hand thumping his chest.

Meeting Elijah with a smile and a shrug, Lina would have spoken more freely on why she was penalising him if not for their company.

When they first met, Elijah noticed that Lina was from a good upbringing and jumped on it to presume far too much about her.

"Not nice, is it?" Lina rested her arms on the table "To have so much presumed due to your social class,"

Lina was from an above working class, but she was not beneath hard work and getting her hands dirty, and she did not take too kindly to the assumption that she was some pampered and sheltered naive girl.

It too was a little revenge for Elijah's behaviour on their last two meetings.

Mouth pinched on one side, Elijah's brows raised in some show of agreement "Touché, Doodlebug,"

Returning to the nickname's use, it was Lina's turn to look dissatisfied, albeit, deserved.

"I told you to stop calling me that," Lina grumbled, taking a bite of the sandwich.

Elijah smiled teasingly "I will stop, when you tell me your last name," throwing out a bargain, he looked down to Marcus "A fair trade, don't you think?"

Marcus - who was no longer choking - showed some interest and peered across at Lina "It would be the answer to the most intriguing mystery,"

Showing that Lina was displeased with Marcus's changing sides in a single withering look, Lina waited for her food to go down before speaking: "You can keep calling me Doodlebug then,"

"You would rather be called a bug, then give your name?" Marcus queried, stroking his chin "Curious."

Curious, yes.

Would Lina tell them?

"Mountbatten," Lina mentioned calmly.

At once, Elijah choked on his tea, spraying it across the table and subsequently, Lina.

Staying in place, eyes closed to keep the tea getting in them Lina sighed deeply.

It was not the most unusual reaction, but the least pleasant.

Mountbatten - previously Battenberg - was a lineage descended of German roots. Like when the Royal family changed their last name during the Great War due to rising discontent for anything German, Lina's branch changed theirs.

It also meant that Lina was not just Lina but was born Princess Lina of Greece and Denmark.

"Now," Lina stood, searching for a cloth to wipe herself down "Do you see why I kept it quiet?"

For one of Lina's social status to not only be living as she was but to be a Flight Sergeant in the RAF, it was best kept to only a select few.

Choosing to tell Elijah, and subsequently, Marcus was based purely on that everyone who knew Lina and her family, identified them as Dok.

A name with no discernible route to its choosing, other than it belied Lina and her family's roots.

Even how they came to be living in Dover was a secret her father took to his watery grave.

Though Lina suspected it was to do with some familial falling out with her late uncle.

Elijah peered at Lina as though it was their first meeting, that she was a complete and utter stranger to his eyes.

"You're pulling my leg," Elijah rebelled, obviously unwilling to accept what he was told as truth "If, and I mean a big if, you're as you claim," he curled his fingers into a loose fist "Why are you here, or even serving in the Air Force?"

A good question as it was, Lina could only answer one half of it "Our family has always served in the forces in some capacity," wiping away the tea that threatened to stain her clothes, Lina shrugged "I chose to do the same,"

With a father in the Air Force, Lina had been fascinated by flight and tactical action since a child. If not for her father, and his ties, Lina would never have been permitted the chance to show that she was as capable as any other man.

Living away from the main branch of their family allowed more leniency with Lina's life choices, and even though her uncle Louis was opposed at the start, he came around after seeing Lina in action.

"Wait...wait," Elijah uttered, either not convinced or still on the fence whether to believe Lina "Piss off."

Laughing at Elijah's obvious distress with the unexpected injection of vulgar language, Lina allowed the time for the information to sink in before adding anything further.

Notably, Marcus was quiet, too quiet.

Making sure to be subtle with it, Lina surveyed Marcus from the corner of one eye, and what she saw was the positive opposite of Elijah.

Obviously, a well-collected man, he exuded calm and control, except at that moment.

With eyes like owls in how open they were, Marcus showed silent distress, as though he was in some internal conflict about what Lina told them.

Was it so surprising to learn that Lina was more than just a fighter pilot?

The chance to ask stolen when Elijah stood up, Lina met his incredulous stare head-on.

"You can calm down," musing over the responses Lina thought it best to retract what she mentioned as a mere joke "My last name is Dok." Shrugging it off, a little flirtatiously Lina hugged the teacup to her chest "I warned you not to be so gullible, did I not?"

Teasing the matter gently, Lina giggled into the fresh tea when Elijah exclaimed -rudely- that she was not funny.

"Oh, it was a little. Your face was, delectable, just then," continuing to tease, Lina trailed behind Elijah when he announced he was returning to finish the garden.

Elijah spun around on the doorstep, catching Lina in some surprise and making her stumble back a little.

The hand Elijah caught her with pinched lightly on her hip whispered: "You're not funny, Princess Doodlebug."

Faces close enough that their noses brushed, Lina's eyes became slits to the newest addition to a name that was slowly becoming less annoying.

"I will punch you again," warning Elijah, but unable to keep from smiling while doing so, it was no surprise that he did not take it seriously.

Instead, Elijah snuck another quick kiss, more demanding than the previous two, before leaving Lina standing on the doorstep.

"He only wants one thing," Marcus piped up from the table "You know that, right?"

Coming back to the table, Lina sat down silently, refilling the cup she nestled it in hand before peering across at Marcus.

"I can look after myself," Unsure what concern it was of Marcus's to make a scathing observation, Lina noticed the disappointment that lingered in the outskirts of his gaze "Though I respect your opinion,"

Marcus started to stack up the empty plates, leaning across the table as he did "I mean no disrespect, as your private life is not my business to know," he spoke politely "But the short time I knew your brother, he thought highly of you, and would not want to see you hurt,"

Caught unaware a second time, caused more than a sudden shock but left Lina fighting off tears and struggling to breathe.

Like a deer in a hunter's sight, Lina couldn't move, not even when Marcus offered a comforting squeeze of the shoulder before leaving her alone.

Shakily Lina stood up, closing the back door to hide the slow descent she would only battle with when alone.

Vilem and her father were dead. A fact that Lina should not have been able to deny when she witnessed both.

Yet, Lina refused to accept it as truth, and furiously denied it.

Staggering to the cupboard above the sink Lina snatched out the half-drunk whiskey, popping out the cork and drinking from it gluttonously.

Lina spent most evenings in the Priory drinking, drowning out the creeping thoughts that came when she was alone at night.

Painfully aware of what she was doing, Lina tore the bottle away from her mouth with a silent cry.

Drinking would only blot it out for a short time before becoming a crux that could not be abandoned.

Knowing well enough that she was balancing delicately, Lina flexed the grip on the bottleneck, admiring the ripple of the amber liquid.

One more couldn't hurt was always what Lina told herself as the bottle came back to her lips.

The lacking distraction of conversation or jobs to do around the house let the talk with Paul that morning fight its way to the front of her mind.

Vilem was believed to have been handling sensitive documents, the contents of which Paul could not confirm, but that it was accused that Vilem handed them over to enemy forces, willingly.

A move that resulted in the deaths of thousands of allied men.

Could it have been what caused Vilem to take his life?

An attempt to repent for those he callously sent to their deaths?

Another drink left Lina feeling warm, her tongue fuzzy with the whisky's burn.

Was Lina being punished for having a treacherous brother with the forced leave?

Did they think that Lina knew anything of what Vilem was believed to have done?

With each question that could not be answered, Lina drank, accepting the slow sway of her body gladly, she stopped when her eyes landed on the window.

It was not the two men that enraptured Lina with such emotional violence, but the beautiful plumage of a bird rarely seen.

A bluebird, small and like polished coal eyes fixed on Lina, stared and stared, until Lina upended the whiskey bottle, pouring it down the sink.

"Ok, Vilem," she laughed sadly "I get it."

When they were children, Vilem never called Lina by name, and even into adulthood, the nickname stuck.

Bluebird was what Vilem called Lina, and the cause made her burst out in a fit of tearful laughter as the reason echoed in her head.

"They're like you," Vilem declared, pointing at the bluebird hopping on a tree branch.

"Rare?" Lina giggled, thinking it a compliment.

"No," Vilem objected "Stupid and constantly getting bloody lost!"

Heel to head, Lina rubbed it in a grinding pattern, shaking off the memory with a whispered: "I am so lost right now,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marcus is a war orphan of the Great War.  
> Born in Cologne, Marcus never met his mother as she died while giving birth to him and so was raised by his father. However, in 1914, at the outbreak of the Great War, his father was called up as a medic. Marcus is not sure of when or where his father actually died, but knows he never came home. During this time Marcus was placed in an orphanage, and as with many German civilians in this time due to the blockade imposed which restricted food supply, he suffered malnourishment.  
> It was only in 1919, when Marcus was nine, as the German revolution (November revolution) was drawing to a close that Marcus’s maternal Grandmother elected to take Marcus in. Though it was apparent that money was the motivation as Marcus’s father left behind a sizable inheritance for his son.  
> The years spent with his Grandmother until Marcus was able to leave and join the Reichswehr are something he does not speak about at all.  
> It was around 1933 when the Reichswehr was transitioned to the Wehrmacht , by 1935, Marcus had joined the Luftwaffe. Climbing to the Rank of Oberstleutnant by the outbreak of the war.  
> Also,  
> The use of the name Bluebird was inspired by Vera Lynne's - There'll be bluebirds over The white cliffs of Dover, Tomorrow, just you wait and see - from the song, White Cliffs of Dover. It was what prompted me also to make the first chapter, over the white cliffs. It was there that the battle of Britain was dominantly fought, and it became pivotal to defend during those years.  
> The Bluebird is not native to the UK, and American lyrist Nat Burton apparently was not aware of this when writing the song. However it has also been said that the Bluebirds could be used as a way to describe the underside of the war planes during those years.  
> The use of the lyric in the song "thumbs up," is also a nod to the RAF who would use this signal as a sign to say they were clear to go.  
> The white cliffs were also nicknamed 'Hellfires Corner' during the war.


	7. The Danger Unseen

Evening rolled around sooner than expected.

Daylight fading to a warm summer's eve, Lina sipped the lukewarm beer between soft laughs and smiles, the company that night was more pleasing than nights before.

"I refuse to believe a bird will explode should it be fed baking powder," Marcus objected, the pint held close to his chest.

Cigarette smoke plumed when Elijah laughed "If it were not rationed I would prove it to you," skin a little more tanned due to the days work, Elijah's face appeared more youthful, playful and cheeky "Back me up here,"

Shoulder nudged while taking a sip, some spilt on the table "You spill my drink again, I will feed you baking powder," pouting a little, it became a smile when Elijah apologised, offering to buy the next drink.

Listening to Marcus and Elijah's conversation was somewhat enlightening to the two men's personalities.

Elijah was a jack the lad through and through, cheeky, charming, and charismatic.

On the other hand, Marcus was the silent, mysterious type, quiet, observant and speaking only when needed.

Lina noticed that Marcus was a little more reserved. Nervous while accompanying them to the Priory.

Offering to take both men for a drink as a thank you for the work they did that day, Marcus took a little convincing.

Not wanting to wound Marcus's pride as a man, but more than a little aware that he had nothing but the clothes on his back, Lina snuck a second to talk with him.

Handing over the money Lina expressed clearly that it was for the help Marcus had been around the house, a small wage for speeding up the process of getting it back in order.

"Unfortunately," Lina placed her pint down, drawing out a cigarette from the packet laid in the middle of the table, "I think that is an old wives tale,"

Leaning towards Marcus and cupping the flame of the match he lit, Lina inhaled shallowly to check it was alright before sitting back. "Like you can see better in the dark if you eat carrots," listing another odd little fable, she shrugged off Elijah's playful scowl for not backing him up.

"That," Marcus extended a finger from the pint he was holding to point at Lina "Is possibly true," pausing to take a sip of the beer, he looked down when he finished the sentence "Rabbits can see in the dark so that it could be the carrots,"

Sharing a look with Elijah, there was a moment of silence before they both burst out in a fit of laughter.

Small buds of tears slipped across Lina's eyes, more so over the ridiculous turn, their conversation had taken, than the utter seriousness that Marcus spoke his carrot theory from.

"Are you drunk?" Elijah asked, apparently oblivious to the soft sway and slur that gripped him.

Marcus shook his head "Far from," he answered "Though you look to be steaming your way there," calling Elijah out about his state, Marcus relaxed the line of his mouth to soften the delivery.

A smash of glass sent the table into a curious silence, all of them searching around for the cause, it was the raised voices that led them to a small cluster of workmen beside the door.

"...' Ere, you a fuckin' Jerry?" A red-faced man slewed viciously in a young lad's face "You have the features of a cunt."

The man's words rallied an audience, an aggressive one.

No older than possibly fourteen or fifteen, the young boy was quivering but trying to hide it in the clench of his hands.

"Who are you calling a cunt you drunk!" The boy shouted back "You're a coward! Where is your pride, my brothers are out there fighting while you get pissed!" The raw emotion of the boys' cries was painful "You're filth!" He spat in the man's face.

Wincing at the crack of the boy's nose when the man punched him, it took mere seconds for something of a brawl to start.

Glasses and beer flew through the air as men waded in from all angles, a shrill scream of one woman demanding they stop.

Their table all stood as the brawling men moved like a hive of angry bees, swarming any who got in the way.

Becoming involved in a fight was not the night's plan, and Lina didn't anticipate the fist that cut across her jaw.

Thrown wild and landing blindly, the man stopped instantly on seeing that he punched a woman.

An arm flew out over Lina's shoulder, catching the man square on the jaw, he staggered on his feet before falling.

More than capable of handling a knock to the chin, Lina cupped it more from surprise than hurt, but it didn't stop the person who threw the fist back at the man from bustling Lina behind them.

"I think you owe the lady an apology," Marcus's tone was low and eerily calm when he stepped forward, a foot placed on the man's throat, applying weight slowly.

Struggling to be free of Marcus's boot, the man kicked his feet, grappling for footing to be able to push him off.

Though Marcus stood firm, even when the man threw punches to the back of his knee "All you need to do is say sorry," Marcus repeated.

Breaths coming in short wheezes and faces becoming tinged blue around the lips, Lina took a grip on Marcus's arm "It's fine. No harm was done."

Marcus didn't turn his head but flicked his gaze to Lina.

With night falling, and no lighting able to reach beyond the blackout, Marcus's eyes were illuminated by the moon alone.

They were striking, but cold, and sent a chill down Lina's spine when they stayed so intensely focused on her.

"As you wish," Marcus finally looked away, taking the foot off the man's throat.

Watching the man scramble like a frightened mouse across the street, Lina followed the man's flee until a hand came to hold her chin lightly.

Angled gently, Marcus inspected Lina's face closely.

Too closely that the warm wave of Marcus's breath tickled Lina's skin, making it that little warmer.

"Are you ok?" Marcus asked, possibly taking notice of how stiff Lina was standing.

Accustomed to men being crude, objectifying, and entirely forgetting at times that Lina was actually female when handling her, the softness Marcus exuded took her off guard.

"Fine." Short and sweet, Lina laughed to cover up that her chest was fluttering, screaming even in forgotten excitement.

How long was it since Lina experienced such care while being touched that this simple gesture nearly sent her into meltdown.

Using the back of a hand to remove Marcus's cough cleared the butterflies that broke from her chest and were tickling her throat.

"You didn't need to do that," Lina made the small chastisement in a whisper "It didn't hurt,"

Head kept at an angle, Marcus sighed: "It was an automatic reaction,"

Half expecting Marcus to spout that it was a gentlemanly honour to protect a woman, it was a pleasing change to hear that he acted on impulse.

"I know personally well that you could have delivered a finer punch," Marcus mused, using the incident of their meeting more like some badge of honour than an insult on his pride "I just got in there that bit quicker,"

Teasing the idea that Marcus nearly stole the hypothetical kill, Lina smiled a little giddily.

"Are you calling me slow now?" Lina queried, feeling a little more confident that she was not about to turn into a gushing mess.

Marcus corrected his posture "I would never make such a slight to your ability," responding earnestly, it might have come with a smile.

The low lighting was both hindrance and welcome at that moment, as Lina was confident that she would become a weak-kneed mess with Marcus's sincereness.

Phasing back slowly from the short fluster, sharp, high pitched whistles chorused the fighting din.

Hard to tell who was a brawler or a policeman, Lina squinted around for the one person who went missing the moment fighting broke out.

"He's in the thick of it," Marcus somehow guessed what Lina was doing, raising an arm to single out easily the tallest man in the cluster.

Shoulders slumped in disappointment, and some exaggerated exasperation, Lina crossed her arms, holding the elbows "Well," she started, swayed out a hip, accidentally pushing it on Marcus's groin.

In a split second of panic about whether to play it off as the accident was, or plead some ignorance and act like she was unaware, Lina made the situation no better when her hand flew to hold the hip.

Springing away in a leaping sidestep, Lina's face was close to breaking a sweat in the blaze of embarrassment.

"I am so sorry!" Snapping a hand to cup the side of her face and mostly hide, Lina screams internally.

Lina had thrust a hip into Marcus's groin in no more than thirty seconds, then grabbed it.

Mortified by the behaviour, Lina could hear the croaking of her old etiquette tutor telling Lina that her behaviour was unladylike over the internal admonishment she was giving herself.

A soft chuckle silenced the clamour in Lina's mind, causing her to drop two fingers to peer at its source.

Marcus stood confidently like the unintentional groping was of no bother to his person.

"Accidents happen in the dark," Marcus spoke gently, dismissing the embarrassing element "No harm was done," adding it in like an afterthought, it was unclear whether he was grinning.

Whether or not the incident stressed Marcus, it didn't change that Lina was.

Though it looked like Marcus would not hold it against Lina, it was not desirable to be feeling up a temporary tenant of her home.

"Well," Lina swallowed away the humiliating dryness in her mouth "I was about to say we should try and rescue him," the crowd was dispersed, some arrested, others being fined "But it looks as though we don't need to now,"

A slither of hope alive that Elijah was not one of the arrested men, Lina couldn't tell with the blackout in full effect, and only the moonlight to see.

"I think it would be best if we leave," Marcus put forward the suggestion, appearing to be looking around "It will be too dark to navigate soon,"

True to Marcus's word, the sky was clouding over with a threat of rain.

Reluctant to leave without knowing Elijah was at least ok, Lina knew that waiting around to find out could be wasted time.

"I'm sure he is ok," Lina mentioned taking the lead "I hope," she added under breath.

Walking up the hill, Lina made idle chatter, small and insignificant questions.

"Did you need a doctor to give your side another look?"

At Lina's side and matching pace with her, there came a falter in Marcus's step, possibly from the out of the blue question.

"I think it is healing well," Marcus responded assuringly "There is no sign of infection, and it's not deep,"

"How about clothes, and other things," Lina posed it casually that she was more than aware of Marcus's limited supply of, well, anything.

"The money you gave me should be enough to acquire a few things," covering the matter swiftly, Marcus coughed, showing some awkwardness.

Folding both arms when the wind whipped down the hill, Lina shook off the slight chill it brought "Well, should you need anything, just ask,"

Unable to let a man be without when Lina had plenty to share and spare, it was only intended as a polite gesture.

"Is this some way of making up for your offending my chastity?" Marcus asked.

It came so calmly, casual and a little too seriously, that Lina tripped, crashing into a hedge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lina was born in 1915, during the Great War, in Lubeck, Germany. It meant that though Lina's father knew she was expected, he did not actually get to meet his daughter until he was allowed leave in early 1917.  
> With her father of German birth but his branch of the Battenberg (Mountbatten) family living in Britain, her father, Richard, who was a member of the RAF, risked his own death by forewarning his wife of planned allied bombing over Lubeck during the four year period.  
> It was with immense and secretive planning and with aid from friends and a particular member of staff of his household that Richard was able to orchestrate and execute a plan to allow his wife, his then five year old son Vilem, and their newborn daughter (Lina) to flee Germany and come to England in early January 1916.  
> They arrived in Dover, Kent, in February 1916 to where Richard had managed to obtain a quaint homestead for his wife and children to wait out the war and his hopeful return.  
> Richard, as Vilem never failed to mention when chance arose, cried for an hour when he was handed Lina to hold for the first time.  
> They lived in Dover until shortly after Lina & Vilem's mother passed away when Lina was only five, before moving to Mayfair, London.  
> Richard's previous disagreement with his older brother, Prince Louis of Battenberg (title renounced in 1917 to become Marquess of Milford Haven) seemingly forgotten, both Lina and Vilem were granted their titles which was theirs by birthright. Oddly, whereas they should have received the title of Prince & Princess of Battenberg, they were granted the title of Prince & Princess of Greece & Denmark whilst being told never to speak of their mother.  
> Their father, too, never spoke his wife's name again.  
> Starting life as a commoner to discovering she was a Princess at five years old, Lina was often unruly, petulant and threw terrible tantrums for the first year of adjusting to the newer way of life. Being told how to act, dress, speak and having almost every part of her life dictated by another, never sat well with her from childhood into adulthood.  
> It was whilst living within her family's estate that proper language and elocution lessons were started, as Lina and her brother, Vilem, predominantly spoke only German due to their mother's limited English and their father rarely switching tongue while talking with them.  
> Lina was taught, English, Danish and Greek from a very young age, and went on to learn French and Swedish by the time she was twelve.  
> Unlike Vilem, who could only speak German, English and French (he could understand Greek, but was not well spoken in it)  
> Lina was finally banned from attending public duties and tours with her father when she was eleven after openly punching one of her many cousins in front of a shocked crowd. She would also often wander off while in attendance of her father's public duties, which often meant Vilem would have to go and find her and bring her back before it was noticed. This often led to Vilem being blamed for them both going missing and causing panic.  
> It was while living in Sweden and finishing her education while her father was posted there with the RAF that Lina took closer interest in flight. Studying the planes and asking for lessons from a Swedish pilot when her father was not around. A Swedish pilot who - absolutely none the wiser who she actually was or that she was only thirteen - happily agreed.  
> At fourteen and after a year and a half of lessons and failed efforts to get her father to allow her to fly with him, she made a point that she was already capable after stealing a plane.  
> It was the first and only time her father shouted at her after she landed.


	8. The Importance of Words

Rising with the sun, Marcus made the bed and took a short shower before dressing.

Forced to hide the small personal effects in an old jewellery box found in the room Marcus was using, he was limited to where it could be stowed. So placed it on top the wardrobe tucked towards the back centre.

Checking each morning that it was not disturbed, Marcus set a small sewing pin in the lid joints to know if anyone other than himself touched it.

Once confident that it was still in place, Marcus buried the tiny whisper of fear that would start each morning.

Discovery could come at any time, and Marcus wanted to remain mentally prepared for it; so the presence of fear was a healthy and expected sensation to wake with.

Ready to start the day, Marcus checked his pockets.

In one were cigarettes and a book of matches, the other some loose change and a thick wad of paper.

The afternoon before Lina gave Marcus the money under a vague pretence that it was payment for his help.

Whether Lina intended to be subtle in the manner she approached the matter that Marcus was in dire straits without her help, or was so direct that it came across as the latter, Marcus was thankful regardless.

Thirty pounds was more than even a week's wage in England, and it was passed hand to hand without reservation.

Recalling the moment Lina announced that she was a descendant of the house of Hesse, and its branch family, Battenberg, Marcus came to some peace with accepting the money.

Lina retracted the admission seconds after making it, replacing it with another name purely to put Elijah at ease.

Marcus knew better, and while he did not flounder around as Elijah did, it came as a considerable shock to learn who he was in the presence of.

Turning the shirt sleeves up to the elbow, Marcus left the bedroom - Lina's room as a child - and slowly took the stairs.

Bacon being cooked scented the air, as did freshly baked bread.

Holding his stomach when it rumbled, Marcus first checked the doorstep.

The paper laid neatly. Marcus picked it up, shaking it out to read the recent headlines.

Seeing the war from the other side came more of an interest than Marcus first thought.

There was the expected propaganda, boosting morale, but there was also little comics and satire that Marcus still did not understand why Lina found them so funny.

Head still in the paper, Marcus did not immediately look up when spoken too.

"Good morning," Lina mumbled softly.

Folding up the paper, Marcus made ready to return the sentiment but halted when he was met with an unfamiliar face.

"Marcus, this is Constable Peters," Lina caught Marcus's eye with a stressed smile "He is here about the disturbance last night and a claim that you threatened someone,"

Marcus recalled clearly the man who threw a punch at Lina; all he did was what any man would in return.

Hesitating to speak on noticing the eagerness from Lina to be the one to talk first, like there was a little more to the Constable's being there, Marcus held his tongue.

"As I told you, this is not the man you're looking for should you read back over the description made of the assailant," Lina kept a polite tone, but the deep crease in her brow showed irritation and some manner of stress.

The Constable adjusted in the chair, one arm on the table "I can see that it's not ma'am," using a tone like he was speaking with a child who asked a stupid question, the man flicked the tip of his helmet "I have my own eyes in working order,"

Bemused in some fashion, Marcus stepped aside when the Constable departed the kitchen "Well, thank you for nothing. Have a splendid day," he stopped briefly, eyeing Marcus head to toe "You're not local, are you?"

If Marcus were scared easily, the question would have set his heart into a panicked rhythm "No. I arrived a week ago," he answered with ease, trying to lie about being a local would not be to Marcus's benefit.

The Constable rocked on his heels; chin jutted as he hummed "Papers?" Laying a hand flat, the fingers flicked in beckoning.

"In the channel, should you care to swim down and get them," Marcus smiled "I am awaiting replacement,"

Showing little humour, the Constable brought his stance into a more officiating one "Alright. Rank, regiment, number." Leaning in the man bore a conniving smile "Smart arse,"

"Wing Commander, Eleven Squadron, Manston, Lima Papa eight, one, five, seven, five."

Both Marcus and the Constable turned to look at Lina when she answered in place of Marcus.

"Does that suffice?" Lina asked without looking their way; instead, she was focused on the window, staring out at something.

Far more concerned by yet another lifeline tossed out by Lina barely a glance was made to the Constable when he scoffed in some displeasure.

"It will do." Stating that he was satisfied, though not happily, the Constable parted without even a smile.

Front door closing, an odd quiet filled the house.

Standing idly and unsure how to proceed, Marcus continued to watch Lina while she sipped her tea, eyes glued to the window.

"I used my father's credentials," Lina elaborated. "I know you're without yours and have made no mention about getting a replacement," she put down her cup. "So maybe today you should go into town, the post office can supply your basic identification papers, providing you remember your national insurance number?"

Thrown the unexpected aide only for it to be followed by another, Marcus remained silent and only nodded once.

Marcus could not ask directly without incriminating himself, but there was worry that Lina was figuring out that he was not who he claimed to be.

"Is there something that matters?" Testing the waters with the question, Marcus seated himself, throwing down the paper.

Lina didn't move or even speak for a time before shaking her head "No." short and clipped, it was followed with a sigh.

Clearly, a lie told, Marcus, read every small tell of Lina's face. Brow creased, the corners of her mouth were pinched, and her gaze was distant.

"If there is something that bothers you, you can speak freely with me," Marcus pushed again, needing to know if the time had come to move on.

Slowly Lina focused on Marcus, the teacup held between both hands thrummed with her fingers "People have been talking," her lips pouted "Gossip at best, but still troublesome,"

Gossip of any nature held the potential to be dangerous, so Marcus hoped to hear what rumours had Lina looking so troubled.

"Gossiping about what?" Acting nonchalant, but interested, all the same, Marcus poured the tea but stopped when Lina answered.

"Well," There was obviously something she found equally entertaining as it was some grievance "I am being accused of bigamy, for one."

Throwing a small smile back when Lina eyed him sharply, Marcus tapped his chin in thought while sitting around in the chair "I see your issue, but-," he held his chin, angling his face to look at Lina "-, who is your other husband?"

Lina blinked slowly like she was waiting for Marcus to catch up with her.

"Elijah," The name dropped off Marcus's tongue bitterly, it was not the most pleasing combination of letters to leave his mouth.

"Speaking of that Devil," Lina lowered the cup to the table "He attempted to have you arrested by giving your name instead of his last night,"

The fight broke out in the pub was another bitter taste on Marcus's tongue, not just because Lina was harmed.

What started it was most concerning to Marcus.

Seeing how the people reacted to the mere suggestion that someone was German was nothing shy of vicious - but Marcus found small solace in a short moment.

Lina did not react like the others, there was no malice on her face when it erupted, but pity.

Guessing it was for the young lad who was being accosted, Marcus was not totally disheartened that she showed pity.

Coming back to the matter that should have been of more importance, Marcus could not say that he was surprised by the underhanded tactic, and he said as much.

"You really dislike him," Lina curled her fingers under her chin, the thumb hiding the grazed skin from the punch she took "Don't you?"

Not particularly wanting Elijah to be the topic of their morning talk, Marcus tapped his thumb on the index in thought "I dislike his methods," he returned after some thought "Men like him are not ones I tend to keep in my company, and neither would I advise that you do,"

Lina slid back a little in the chair; lips parted a fraction like she was about to speak, they closed, almost as if she thought better of it.

"I need to see a few things today," Lina rubbed the right wrist, the cuff of the dress dropping to show the discolouring of a bruise.

There was only one incident Marcus could think that made the mark on her skin, and it forced him to cough to cover the laugh.

Unable to see well in the darkness, Marcus watched the silhouette take the most unladylike fall and straight into a hedge.

After fetching Lina out the chance to ask what happened vanished, she declared she was ok and started walking briskly.

"I don't know when I will be back," getting to her feet to place the plates of her breakfast in the sink.

It was while Lina stood with her back to Marcus that he noticed her hair was worn down.

Far longer than all her previous hairstyles made it seem, Marcus was impressed by its length and that it was well kept.

Lina's dress was also more fitted, accentuating her body's natural dips and curves, which from previous attires was shapely, but not so pleasant as that morning.

Considering that Lina could have a meeting with someone she held in a more favourable light, Marcus also stood up.

"If you're not opposed, and it won't take you out your way, may I walk with you?" Marcus asked, leaning over Lina a little to deposit his plates in the sink, he noticed how cautiously she angled away from him.

Keeping a sincere smile, Marcus hoped that he would not give himself away for wanting to laugh at the slight mishap of her hand the night before when Lina turned to him.

"You may," Taking her hands out the sink and drying them; it was slapped to Marcus's chest "If you can dry up and put away before I am ready to leave,"

Clutching the towel before it fell, Marcus agreed with a shake of the head "Is this my earning of my keep?"

Pausing in wiping a plate, Marcus couldn't hide the tug of a smile when Lina responded: "No. It's for your wanting to laugh at me about last night."

Was Marcus too apparent at that moment?

The idea that Lina could read his face this soon and easily was cause for alarm if it was not the latter.

"I am sorry, but it was amusing," Marcus countered stacking the plates neatly "I don't mean to mock you,"

Folding the towel and leaving it on the counter Marcus found Lina curling a section of hair around a finger, pulling it back and pinning it.

The change to her hair was small, subtle, but effective in completing the look.

Elegant without effort, Lina was positively radiant at that moment.

"Are you coming?" Lina inquired with a tilt of her chin; it was inquisitive.

A little charmed by the effortless change of Lina's appearance, Marcus swiftly blocked it out of his mind.

It would be pointless to become enamoured, Marcus was not here to court his enemy, though matter how tempting the idea was.

"Right behind you," extending an arm to sweep Lina out the room, Marcus followed behind until they were outside.

Once more walking side by side, Marcus was aware of the annoyance of an earlier thought that buzzed in his ears.

"You're dressed nicely today," Marcus made it seem a casual observation "Did you have plans to meet friends?"

Trying not to be too evident that Marcus was asking if Lina was about to attend a date, he caught the slight frown in the corner of an eye.

"This is how I usually dress," Lina plucked at the skirt of the summer dress "Do I look overdone?"

If this was how Lina dressed for a casual day, Marcus dared not think how she would look if there were a special occasion.

"Not at all. I just have only seen you in slacks and shirts, so this was new," Marcus covered with the small fact that he had not known her long enough to know her dress sense.

Lina narrowed her eyes, scrutiny within them for what Marcus was saying, it went away in the broad smile that brightened her face.

"At least you hold a concept of what a compliment is supposed to be," Lina mentioned in a soft grumble "It's refreshing, so thank you,"

A little unsure what he was being thanked for, other than paying Lina a compliment, Marcus decided not to question it "You're welcome,"

Strolling in smooth talk down the hill toward the town, Marcus found that he was chattier than usual when in Lina's company; a fact that apparently, she noticed too.

"I thought you were going to be the silent, enigmatic type," Lina stole the cigarette out Marcus's fingers, brushing the back of his hand when she did "But you actually speak quite a bit,"

Marcus rubbed a thumb over his fingers "Is that a backhanded way of telling me to shut up?"

Flicking the cigarette ash, Lina smiled slyly "If I wanted you to shut up I would not go about it any other way than telling you straight," making it seem like a promise being made, Lina pointed the direction they needed to take, a slight left.

"I actually enjoy these small talks, they're pleasantly different from what I am used to," Lina added as an afterthought "You don't bore me either,"

Learning that Lina enjoyed conversation with Marcus was a step in the right direction, and it also was not.

As Marcus told himself before they left the house, becoming attached was out of the question, and he needed to practice keeping distance.

"Here," Lina stopped walking, standing outside a clothes shop, or more specifically a tailor.

Scratching the back of his head, Marcus read the shop front with only a second of no understanding.

"I can't allow this," Marcus started to try to dissuade Lina "You have done more than enough already."

From the moment Lina chose not to break Marcus's arm she had gone above and beyond to help him.

"I have credit with them," Lina waved off Marcus's efforts "If it hurts your pride so much to accept my help, consider this a debt and that you owe me," eyebrows arched and baring a conniving smirk, she waited with a gleeful sparkle in her eye.

Lina was a forceful woman, but not in the standard way; it wasn't off-putting how she executed her wiles to get what she wanted at no detriment to herself.

Making it a choice of charity or debt, Lina placed Marcus in a bind. To refuse someone's help was unbecoming, and unsightly, but to accept a debt was much the same and would only create the start of a slippery slope.

Flicking up a finger, Marcus's shoulders sagged in some defeat "You're impossible,"

Lina only switched her conniving smirk for a victorious one "Remember what I am about to tell you-," she leaned forward in a whisper "-.your life will depend on it later,"

Intrigued, equally confused Marcus didn't like how serious Lina's face became, or how close she shuffled to his side.

What was so severe that it needed to be said with enough secrecy that Lina tiptoed to be able to say it straight in Marcus's ear.

Awaiting in some apprehension, Marcus tilted his body, leaning into Lina when she came impossibly close.

Finally, Lina parted with the critical piece of information, and Marcus wasn't entirely sure what to make of it when she whispered: "A happy wife, means a happy life,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elijah too, is a war orphan in this.  
> Born in 1910, Elijah was four when his father, who already served in the military prior to the Great War, died in battle. His father served in the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment, and was deployed to Le Havre with the 1st Battalion (based in Portsmouth) as part of the 9th division. He died in the Battle of Bellewaarde, the second battle of Ypres, on May 19th, just six days before the end of the battle. His body was able to be recovered and was returned to Lincolnshire for burial.  
> Elijah's mother was a Red Cross Nurse who passed away after contracting Typhoid. She passed away never knowing of her husbands soon to be fate, 23rd March 1915. She too was brought home and was buried alongside her husband.  
> Elijah was left in the care of his fathers, sister while they were away, but, unfortunately, after learning of the death of her husband and brother, Elijah's aunt's mental health started to decline and she was sectioned in late 1915.  
> With no remaining family able to look after Elijah, he was taken to an orphanage in London where he spent his early years into his teenage years in constant brushes with the law.  
> Expelled from school at fourteen for smoking, frequent truancy and being deemed a hooligan, Elijah found work with a Fisherman docked in the Thames.  
> However, Elijah still was in and out of trouble with the Constabulary for petty theft, breaking and entering, and a few occasions of public intoxication, which forced the Fisherman to lay Elijah off.  
> At eighteen, and seemingly finally starting to settle down, Elijah met a young Polish woman, Irmina.  
> They had an intense, but shortly lived, romance. It ended when Elijah found out that Irmina was working as a prostitute. Shortly after, Elijah once more found himself jobless and in trouble with the law when, after a night of heavy drinking, a fight started. Though Elijah was the one stabbed (where his scars came from on his stomach) the man who assaulted Elijah died when a punch made in an effort to get his attacker away resulted in the man hitting his head on the curb. Ultimately knocking him unconscious, the man died five days later due to the injury.  
> With a previous criminal history, and being faced with a murder charge rather than manslaughter and possible hanging, Elijah was fortunate to have been found not guilty. It was after his trial, and the harsh reality check from his lawyer that he needed to better himself that Elijah decided to listen to the advice and join the Military.  
> Originally signing up to the Army, Elijah transferred to RAF Digby in Lincolnshire when he turned twenty, and was under the wing of the No.2 Flying Training School RAF (1930). There he was taught as a fighter pilot. Training in Bristol Fighters & Sopwith Snipe. He eventually became a recruitment trainer in 1935, and held the rank of Squadron Leader. Then, 7th September 1937 the No.2 Flying Training School RAF was transferred to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. There, Elijah was enrolled as a member of no.10 Squadron, which later became part of the reformed No.4 Group of the RAF bomber command where he flew the Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley. A twin engined front line British Bomber.  
> In April 1940, Elijah was supposed to be deployed to aid Norway in deterring Germany's invasion. However, when Germany invaded France in May, the allied forces were forced to retreat. Elijah, however, was still in Britain. Injury of an unspecified origin forcing Elijah to take leave, he ended up in Dover and overlooking the White cliffs as a Dogfight happened between Manston's Eleven Squadron and the Luftwaffe.


	9. Von jetzt an

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title taken from the song by Madeline Juno - Von jetzt an: https://youtu.be/mxTcckeTgFA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technical spoilers for any new reader of this series in the second lot of notes at the bottom. However, for anyone possibly reading again, there is a little more insight to something that appears later in the series.

The bell above the door chimed when it opened - loudly.

Stepping into the shop that was nothing more than a collection of brick-a-brack Lina was not there for the odds and sods on display, but the man lounged behind the counter.

“Roberts,” greeting the longtime acquaintance, Lina smiled serendipitously, watching the man flick back the brim of the hat.

Cruel, like a knife-edge, Danny smiled back at Lina “Well, well,-“ legs slipping off the counter he stood up, resting on his arms “-, could today be my lucky day?”

Flicking a finger back and forth with slow clicks of the tongue, Lina shooed away Danny’s drivel “I am not here to get my leg over today,” a hand placed on Danny’s head slid back the hat “Not until you pay for that drink you owe me,”

The sexually driven rhetoric that usually occurred while in Danny’s company was never anything more than his trying luck - but Lina never failed to play along.

Danny propped a hand under his chin “I have never paid for it,” he chuckled darkly “But you might be my first and only exception,”

Nose wrinkling with a pouting smile, Lina took it as a compliment.

“All flirting aside, did you acquire it?” Sidelining the fun back and forth for business, Lina waited with eager anticipation when Danny snuck away into a back room.

Ever since the Wednesday before, Lina was holding puzzle pieces, and none of them was fitting with the shapes of the stories being told.

That morning, one crucial detail and slip of memory allowed Lina’s deep-rooted suspicion more ground.

Things were not adding up, and Lina needed to know why.

“I had to break some fingers to get this,” Danny returned with a stack of papers and a thumb stroking his jaw “But anything for you is never too much trouble,” tossing down the pieces with a grin that would not be out of place on a wolf, Danny held the counter, waiting.

Money was a language many people spoke regardless of barriers, and Lina had it aplenty.

Trading a roll of notes for the pages, Lina merely glanced at Danny when he sat down with a lick of finger and thumb, and started counting.

Scanning the sheets, Lina singled out a name, a finger stroking across the columns of information to be sure that she found the corresponding detail in the next.

“A smarter fool than many,” Lina whispered before sliding the pages back to Danny “Burn this, ok?”

Head bobbing side to side as though he was being asked something that should never have needed to be said, Danny squinted back at Lina “I am no dolt, Miss,”

Hopping up to lean over the counter Lina pinched and shook one of Danny’s cheek “Oh I know, sweetheart,” pouting playfully she dropped back with a laugh when Danny tossed out a bottomless threat.

Leaving Danny’s shop, Lina held the first piece of the puzzle that fitted, and it was not one that she wanted to own.

Back on the high street, Lina found Marcus was still where she asked him to wait, a little knit forming in the brow.

Only a second taken, Marcus, glanced up and stepped as Lina did to meet in the middle.

“Shall we take a walk,” Lina suggested “There is something we need to discuss,”

Barely perceptible, Marcus showed a flash of concern but swept it away in a polite smile “Is something the matter?”

Setting a casual pace, Lina drew out a cigarette leaning into the match that Marcus lit for her “Quite.” Answering shortly Lina eyed the passers-by, hoping that today fortune would shine.

“I have been wondering, for a few days, over a few things,” Lina began, “In particular there has been something that has held my interest, In Ihrer Rede rollen Sie einige Ihrer Briefe mehr als die meisten,”

Marcus nodded slow “Es ist ein Fehler, eine zweite Sprache zu ler—!”

Lina stopped walking, staring down the high street “Keeping in line with the routes of our house, we are taught German as our first tongue, English second,” inhaling on the cigarette Lina tilted her chin a little to exhale “My fingers were always bruised when taking my elocution lessons, for rolling my letters,”

Dropping the cigarette, Lina twisted a heel over it “Always sounded like I was about to phlegm, she would tell me,”

Speaking a second language was not uncommon, but Marcus openly admitted that English was his second tongue with careful placement of the German, not first.

“You wove a nice little tale, Buckler,” Lina smiled softly, slipping an arm through Marcus’s and holding it lightly, forcing him to walk “But how would your papers be in the Channel if you were found off the coasts of Africa?”

Repeating back the slip that allowed Lina to act on her silent doubt, she patted his arm “Oh don’t fret,” lowering to a whisper, a polite smile was shown to those who smiled and waved as they passed “Your secret will be safe with me the whole time you’re to my benefit,”

Panic no longer showed, but a short burst of contempt in Marcus’s gaze, he relaxed a little as they walked “I applaud your attention to detail,” he mused, showing no sign of resentment “But how could I possibly benefit you?”

How could Marcus benefit Lina?

That was simple.

“My brother is accused of feeding information to the enemy that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of our men,” Elaborating on the rumour that Paul picked up, Lina slid down the hand that held Marcus’s arm, slipping the fingers with his, she had the index finger, tight.

Marcus glanced down before looking back at Lina swallowing hard when the finger she held snapped.

“I will keep you alive, pay your way and provide your cover story,” Lina whispered, moving to the next finger on Marcus’s hand, breaking it like the first.

“You will find out from the rats who have turned against us, and those sent over here, anything,-“ this time Marcus buckled a fraction when the middle finger slipped between her fingers “-, anything that will either clear his name or prove it.”

Marcus withstood the breaking of his fingers with little more than a tightness coming to his jaw.

Releasing Marcus’s hand, Lina sighed pleasantly “A splint will help with that,” cupping his face, Lina smiled “Remember that advice I gave you?”

Shakily, Marcus met Lina’s gaze and alarmingly; there was no anger, not even a flicker of hatred.

“A happy wife,” Marcus repeated “Means a happy life.”

Pleased that it was recalled with ease - even if it was only said an hour or so before - Lina removed her hands from Marcus.

“I am not a woman who expects something for nothing,” keeping to a low tone, Lina peered at the three broken fingers “You do this for me, I will see to it that you get home,”

Marcus’s brow creased deeply, but he showed little else “If you’re willing to aid me in returning home, why break my fingers?”

The question was fair, and one quickly answered.

“One finger for each lie you told me about my brother,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: In your speech, you roll some of your letters more than most
> 
> 2: It is a habit since it is not my mother tongue
> 
> -  
> While growing up, Lina was trained in many forms of dance, but she was exceptionally gifted in Ballet. Though Lina eventually chose to pursue a military career over one in Ballet, she kept up with the practice until the moment she signed up for her basic training. Lina idolised Alicia Markova (Marks) (1910 - 2004) who was the first Prima Ballerina (1933-35) for the Vic-Wells Ballet (now Royal Ballet) and the first English dancer to dance lead in Giselle and the full-length Swan Lake. Lina admired Markova's spirit, her work ethic and dedication to her art, but mostly for her refusal to change or deny her Jewish heritage even when told it could ruin or sink her career.  
> Overtime, and less free to practice Ballet, Lina would often be found dancing through the halls of her home when she was too restless to sleep, or woke too early. Later, it became something done when she needed to escape and think. It was noted and very much criticised by Lina's dance teachers that she would dance with her eyes closed and never open, and yet, rarely did she ever place a step wrong, miss a cue, or fall over.  
> Lina's Aunt Victoria, wife of her Uncle Louis, despised the idea that Lina would choose the Air Force over making a respectable name for herself and marrying into one of the European houses. Disregarding the matter that her husband, Lina's Uncle Louis, happily obliged his niece's request to join the Air Force (only after seeing her flight in practice) Victoria went behind her husband's back and ordered Lina's father, Richard, to make Lina choose ballet over the Air Force. An attempt that failed miserably by her father's lackadaisical effort and disinterest to push his only daughter into something he knew that she did not want to do.  
> A lacking effort that led to an argument between Richard and his sister in law. Victoria later made a spitefully intentioned suggestion to have Lina engaged to the unmarried Prince of Denmark. An engagement that was readily agreed upon by Lina's Uncle Louis and the King of Denmark, Christian X.  
> It was in the winter of 1934, some months after the completion of her basic training and while on leave for what was thought to be time spent with family, that Lina learned of her engagement from her Uncle Louis.  
> Furious by the decision made in Lina's absence she stormed into her father's office after speaking with her Uncle without care for who was present and expressed viciously and somewhat tearfully her thoughts on the engagement before telling her father, that she would fulfill her service in the Air Force before the marriage would ever go ahead. In essence, Lina knew that unless she was discharged, she had valid reason to postpone her arranged marriage.  
> The engagement became a rather lengthy one, but one that remained in place, and Lina was expected to travel to Denmark to meet with her fiance when leave was possible, but also take leave when he came to England on state visits. One of which happened in May 1935, St. Ives, Cornwall, when Lina happened across a familiar face in the lobby of the country hotel she was staying in.  
> It was often that Prince Knud, Lina's fiance, would write to her too. Though Lina responded in kind, it was done rather begrudgingly.


	10. verliere mich in dir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Lose me in you  
> Title take from Madeline Juno's song of the same name: https://youtu.be/MgxP_2V3kdw
> 
> *Spoilers in notes*  
> Sort of.

“One finger for each lie you told me about my brother,”

On repeat, the motivation for breaking Marcus’s fingers was becoming like a mantra as the day crept onwards.

Not once thinking that Lina was a simple woman, Marcus never expected to be caught out so soon over a small slip of his tongue.

Thinking that possibly it was his becoming too comfortable too quickly with Lina’s kind natured treatment, there was no resentment for the manner used to bring Marcus in line.

“Does it hurt?” Lina asked while pouring whiskey into two tumblers balanced in the palm of a hand.

Drawing backwards from where Marcus had sat slumped on the table a shook his head “Not like I expected broken bones would,” inspecting the splinted and bandaged fingers, he looked up when Lina offered him a tumbler.

Coming to sit opposite Marcus, a short silence filled the space between them while Lina swirled the amber liquid around the glass in her hand.

Lost in deep thought, Lina drew in a sharp breath “Do you dislike me now?” She asked, eyes coming up to find Marcus’s.

Did Marcus dislike Lina?

“No,” Marcus sipped the whiskey, it was smokey with a hint of spice - not a bad drop.

Marcus held respect for Lina since they came face to face, and she displayed sharp mindedness while questioning him.

Misled to believe that Lina believed Marcus’s tale without showing a hint of doubt, that respect came stronger.

Few successfully played Marcus a fool, and never once a woman.

Coupled with that, was the first-hand experience of Lina’s tactical execution and derring-do while in flight.

“I couldn’t say it before,” Marcus relaxed in the chair, doing much like Lina did a few seconds before, and swirled the glass “But I have admired you since I discovered it was you who led me into my potential undoing,”

Slow, somewhat reluctant, Lina smiled.

“How odd to admire someone that not only helped down your plane but broke your fingers,” pointing to the bandaged hand, Lina tipped her head to one side “Are you prone to masochistic tendencies?”

Dropping the guard worn since Marcus stood at the top of the steps, it was becoming clear that Lina was not just another cardboard cut out woman of society.

“I think I have made an exception just for you,” Marcus drilled, but kept back the sharpness of his words with a good-natured smile “I have no qualms being placed under the heel of an intelligent woman,”

Carefully, the tip of Lina’s tongue swept her bottom lip as she looked off with a small laugh “It seems unfortunate our time of meeting,” she paused to take a sip “I imagine things would be a little different should our circumstances be more fortunate,”

Able to ascertain that there was something mutual felt, Marcus contemplated for a short while whether things would be the same if their crossing paths were more favourable.

“Fortune works in strange methods,” Marcus tapped the edge of his glass “However your choices can always change the outcome,”

Chin sat in the palm of a hand, a single finger curled back, placed against Lina’s lip “Choices?” She repeated quietly, gaze half-lidded “What if you make the wrong one?”

Every decision needed to be made with full acceptance of potential repercussions; it was a fact of life.

“There is no wrong choice,” Marcus lowered his tone, creeping more into a whisper “It’s what we wanted at the time, we just don’t always like what comes after,”

Many times, Marcus could recount where a decision made as he wanted at that moment, ended up reaping rotten fruits.

Marcus chose not to dwell on them though, he had achieved at the time what he wanted, and so accepted what came after as fair comeuppance.

“Do you know what you want out of this?” Lina laid down the hand that previously held her chin, the fingers drumming the wood slowly “What your ultimate goal is?”

Speaking of wants and goals was a broad spectrum, and with no indication of what in particular Lina wanted an answer for, Marcus considered their line of conversation.

“Are you asking what I want out of this arrangement, or what I want to achieve in this war?” Narrowing it down to two strong candidates Marcus suspected Lina was asking about; he watched as she came over coy.

“I wasn’t asking whether you wanted to make true on your claim of our being married,” picking up the bottle Lina poured herself another glass. “Not that I would say no to the parts that come between,” holding out the bottle in an offer of another drink, it came with a coquettish smile, lips only slightly parted.

With one arm balanced on the table, Marcus extended it to receive the drink “Care to elaborate on the parts between?”

Lina was bold in her words far more than in her actions if the reaction to her accidental grope was what Marcus chose to judge by.

Though Marcus suspected it was due to Lina being in an element of control and leading the moment, rather than coming out of the blue.

Lina sipped quietly on her drink, allowing Marcus to do the same with his - though he soon paused.

“I am better at showing what I mean,-“ Lina broke up her answer by throwing attention on the bottle, holding the neck she walked her fingers down it slowly “-, than explaining in words,”

Glass still held to mouth, Marcus watched how Lina’s hand floated up and down the bottleneck until it slipped away.

Standing, Lina walked around the table, the hand stroking the edge as she did “Though my oral dictation has never known complaints,” stopping at the corner, her hips swayed.

Not about to deny what was being offered, Marcus set down the glass when Lina took the last few steps.

Sitting back when Lina slipped between the gap of the table and Marcus, he made no complaint when she took charge.

Belt coming loose Lina’s mouth ghosted over Marcus’s, enticing him to be the one to move and seek the union of their mouths.

A union Marcus readily made when Lina took him in hand.

One hand sliding up a thigh, the other held Lina’s back, their lips breaking in short gasps and not from the need for air.

Guiding her body to meet with Marcus’s, there was a short pause, his hands moving to pinch slightly at Lina’s waist, she pressed her forehead to his.

It started slow, pent up excitement, causing Lina’s body to shiver. She held Marcus’s face whispering in a short pant “Fick mich.”

Pulling Lina flush, Marcus kicked back the chair to stand, bringing Lina to perch on the table edge.

Legs wrapped around Marcus’s waist, Lina held the back of his neck, using another to support her weight on the table.

Keeping a firm hold on Lina’s hips, Marcus did as she asked, ignoring the pulsing in his fingers or the loud scrapes of the table as it thumped into the chairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Fuck me  
> Marcus took part in the invasion of Poland, 1st September 1939.  
> Flying with the Luftflotte 1 (Air fleet 1) under the command of Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring (30th November 1885 - 16th July 1960)  
> Marcus used the Junker Ju 87 and took part in the controversial attack at Wielun.  
> Shortly after Marcus took part in the invasion of Denmark, early April 1940.  
> Lina, at the time of Denmark's invasion, was on planned leave to make the final preparations for her wedding to Prince Knud. However a timely warning of Germany's plan to attack came only a few days before she was meant to depart. With her wedding postponed, Lina gladly returned to service, alongside her father. It was five days later while engaging with the Luftwaffe over the Channel that Lina's father's plane went down and Vilem ended his own life on the clifftops. Louis passed away due to illness, and his two sons, dying during Denmark's invasion, the Mountbatten house was in disorder.  
> Losing not one but five male heirs in quick succession, and the now Dowager, Princess Victoria told by their cousin family, The House of Windsor, to elect an heir, a power struggle started.  
> As the surviving child of the next oldest of Louis's brothers, Lina held a birthright to the seat, and her cousins in the House of Windsor were in favour of her taking it. However, her cousin, Charles, openly contended to this. With the outcome of Denmark unknown, and therefore the lives of its royal family too, Lina was given the option to end the engagement to Prince Knud and take the seat with her cousin Charles, to bring an end to the contention for the seat.  
> A suggestion outright refused, Lina proposed delaying her wedding until the war was over and for her to see her service in the air force until the war's end. Suggesting that if she broke the engagement it could damage future relations with Denmark should the royal family be left unharmed during their invasion and potential occupation. Albeit reluctantly, The Windsor's agreed with her stance and decided to let her see through her service and the war, which allowed Lina to avoid breaking the engagement to Prince Knud and being made to marry her cousin, Charles. However, it came with the stipulation that she would have to produce an heir within two years of her marriage to Prince Knud, or hand her seat over to her cousin, Charles.


	11. The Price of Pride

Scratching the back of her neck, Lina surveyed the kitchen - or rather the table.

Out of line and one chair on its back, Lina sighed, but it was from no place of a complaint.

Stretching up both arms, Lina carried on with a smile to make a pot of tea, humming as she moved around the kitchen.

Checking the time Lina was surprised to find it a little after ten in the morning.

Guessing that she was more tired than first thought, Lina went to pick up the chair when a knock on the front door stole her attention.

Leaving the chair where it was, Lina ran a hand down the chemise before pulling closed the silk robe.

Usually up, washed and dressed much earlier, Lina was a little out of sync with her usual routine that morning, but for a good reason.

A reason that came down the stairs folding up one sleeve of his shirt.

“Morning,” Lina greeted when Marcus stopped on the bottom step, holding out the arm that he could not fold up.

Undoing the cuff button, Lina folded the sleeve to match with the other, before stepping back.

“Thank you,” Marcus smiled, balancing on the bannister while sliding a hand in the pocket of his trousers.

Though there should have been more hostility between them for the morning before, there strangely was none.

Especially not after how the night was spent.

“Your new clothes should be ready this afternoon,” Lina reminded Marcus - the lady said about midday.

Marcus made a lethargic nod, before pointing to the door “You should answer that,”

The second knock reminding Lina why she was even in the hallway, Lina hummed “Could you fix the table,” she asked, twisting the latch of the door.

“It’s broken?” Marcus asked, coming off the bottom step.

Throwing a look over a shoulder with a crooked smile, Lina laughed “Don’t get too cocky now,” raising a shoulder when Marcus showed a smug, but calm smile “It’s out of line,”

Turning sharply on the heel of a shoe, Marcus left the corridor.

Opening the door only a fraction in consideration for her state of dress, Lina held the door while resting her head on the frame.

It had been two whole days since Lina last saw Elijah.

Now here Elijah was, standing on her doorstep with a smile like butter wouldn’t melt.

“Here be the unicorn of the town,” Lina quipped with a frown.

Elijah raised a hand, pointing the finger at Lina “Didn’t the unicorn lose?”

Lina smiled, tapping the door “My point precisely.”

Well aware that Elijah used a false name to avoid arrest and sent Constable Peters to Lina’s door, it was not without some benefit.

Elijah winced, feigning a wound to his chest “I have you know I was the lion,” he grinned, raising an arm to balance on the door.

“Even the lion was chased out of town,” Lina parried. “And think of my house as the town in that nursery rhyme,”

Prepared to close the door on Elijah, it was kept open by his hand pushing against it.

“Doodlebug,” Elijah started softly “I meant no ill will, it was a little joke,”

Calling the matter a joke was the only funny thing about it.

“Do you ever think before you open your mouth?” There appeared to be a recurring problem with Elijah and his mouth; he didn’t think.

Elijah took the hand off the door, holding it up in some effort to either sate Lina’s mood or keep her from hitting him again.

“I am sorry,” Elijah grovelled “I didn’t intend to cause you any trouble, I said his name on a whim and couldn’t retract it once I did,” making an effort to repair the small slip up, he flashed a hopeful yet cheeky smirk.

“You gave my address. Was that a whim too?” Tossing back the other part of Elijah’s joke, Lina watched his smirk become a thinly stretched smile.

Elijah was infuriating, impossible, but hell be damned did his smile make Lina soften up.

Facing away to hide the smile, Lina soon was made to turn when Elijah slipped his hands to cup her face and bring it to his.

“Please, Doodlebug,” Elijah whispered “Let me make this up to you,” the plea came with soft and short kisses.

Forcing a hand between their mouths, Lina pushed Elijah away “I will let you make it up to me,” seeing how happy it made Elijah, there was a slither of wickedness in her smile when she added the stipulation “Once you apologise to Marcus,”

As though Elijah tasted the bitterest lemon, his face crumpled, but soon became a deep scowl.

“Do I have to? I would rather cut off my own nose to spite my face,” Elijah quipped dryly.

As much as Elijah aided Lina with the blunder of sending the Constable to her door, it too was the reason Marcus was walking around with three broken fingers.

So, in a roundabout way, it was Elijah’s fault.

“Go ahead then. I will give you the knife if you can’t be a man about this and own up to your faults,” flouting Elijah’s honour, Lina managed to keep back the smile.

A man’s honour was quite the fickle thing.

“Is he here?” Elijah asked stubbornly.

Stepping back to open the door and remain hidden behind it, Lina swept out an arm, beckoning Elijah to come inside.

“He’s in the kitchen.” Pointing Elijah in Marcus’s direction, Lina hoped that the table and chairs were back in order before he got there.

Meandering behind Elijah purposefully slow, Lina folded her arms while leaning in the doorframe.

Kitchen table and chairs back in order, Marcus stood at the end with a smallish confused look passed to Lina.

Standing behind Elijah, and so hidden, a finger to her lips told Marcus to be quiet.

Close to impossible to refrain the smile and accompanying want to laugh, Lina was stuck with a hand over her mouth.

Elijah stood in some awkward stance, shifting around until he found a more favourable position, and with it, his ego came back to settle.

“What happened to your hand?” Elijah asked with a slight jut of his chin to point out Marcus’s hand.

Lifting the hand, Marcus brushed off what happened effortlessly “I punched someone a little harder than intended,”

Taking the opportunity, Lina added a little more, removing the hand from her mouth to speak “That happened while you went throwing your weight around,” she quipped “I took a hit, he threw one back,”

Eyebrows arched when Elijah took the news dubiously, Lina angled her chin to show the fading graze of the bruise “Got this from it.”

Meeting Elijah’s eyes when they narrowed, Lina returned a smile when he hissed: “If you want me to feel guilty, you’re doing a fine job,”

Still standing on the kitchen step, Lina leant over and close to Elijah’s face to say: “Good.”

Mouth in a pinched line, Elijah took in a deep breath, hands resting on his waist “You’re a piece of work, Doodlebug,” still talking in a whispered hiss to try and keep Marcus out their short exchange, he showed the internal struggle in a heaving sigh.

Shrugging while sweeping a hand out and directing it to Marcus, a smile graced her lips “It’s a simple little sentence,” relishing in watching Elijah’s struggle, the want to laugh came back strongly.

Wriggling her jaw to shunt away the smile threatening to give away entirely that she was enjoying watching Elijah struggle, she cupped a hand over her mouth to whisper in his ear.

“If you do this, nice and sweet, I will allow you more than just a chance to make this up to me,” whispering enticement, Lina withdrew, meeting Elijah’s eyes with a coy assurance.

Without even a blink Elijah spun around to face Marcus “I apologise for causing you unnecessary hassle, and grievance,”

Unsure which was better, Elijah’s sudden eager earnestness, or Marcus’s puzzled look, Lina had to trap the laugh behind a hand.

“I...appreciate your apology,” Marcus responded, covering that he was stunned by Elijah’s outburst with a weak smile.

Hand still in place, Lina gazed at Elijah when he awaited her verdict.

Seconds shy of breathing in a wheeze from the restrained laugh, Lina considered cruel her method.

Though Elijah’s sudden humbleness at the promise of more than a date confirmed that Marcus might well have been correct about what Elijah wanted with Lina.

Disheartening as it was, Lina showed nothing of it.

“That was quite, something,” scoring Elijah’s apology vaguely, Lina beckoned him out the kitchen with a motion of her head.

Catching Marcus’s curious eye before leaving, Lina made a subtle shake of the head.

Waiting for Elijah to slip past Lina pulled the kitchen door closed, allowing them a little more privacy.

“Have I earned that little something extra?” Elijah spared not even a second before he was upon Lina, once more boxing her, this time to the wall.

Surely a man could not be this persistent for one purpose?

“I think not,” Lina let her hand lay on Elijah’s chest, keeping some distance “You sold your pride for a chance at slipping between the sheets,”

Elijah appeared stunned, mouth opening to rebuke Lina hushed him swiftly, a single finger pressing to his lips with a slow shake of the head.

“I won’t be another notch in your bedpost,” Lina stated, deciding now was a better time than any to make it clear that she would not be a plaything for Elijah “So if that is all you are after, you know where the door is.”

Waiting to know the answer was painfully slow as Elijah made no display, not even a slither for some time.

Removing both hands from the wall, Elijah used them to cup Lina’s face, thumbs sweeping gently over her cheeks. “I don’t need another notch in my bedpost,” using a whisper, Elijah came down a little closer, placing a sweet and lingering kiss on her forehead.


	12. The Eagle, The Fox & The Shrew

"Do you have anything that could give you up as German?" Walking in a circle around the living room table, Lina did not bring her head up from the papers in her hand.

Danny Roberts was more than the local fencer; he was peculiarly articulate and able to create seamless false identification documents.

Resting on the frame of the door, Marcus showed reluctance to answer.

"Look," Lina shuffled to another page. "I won't have an amateur mistake be our downfall," pressing the importance that even a slither of doubt could bring someone looking, Lina wanted every loose end neatly tied in a pretty pink bow "So, do you have anything?"

Standing from the door frame, Marcus snuck away from the room in discernible silence.

Since the afternoon, when they parted ways - Marcus to the tailors, Lina to see Danny - there was a noticeable difference in Marcus's demeanour.

Quiet, more withdrawn than days before, Lina wondered why and whether something happened while they were apart.

A short time passed until Marcus returned with a small jewellery box balanced between his hands.

Black leather with a golden stitched trim, Lina recognised it in just a glance; her jewellery box as a little girl.

Organising the credentials, Lina handed them over the box's top while another hand took its weight from beneath.

"Fair exchange," Lina commented vaguely "No robbery."

Quoting the old saying Lina placed her other hand on top of the jewellery box, tracing the stitching "You will have this back once this is done," assuring that it would be looked after Lina nudged her head to one side, asking Marcus to move.

Taking the hall through to the kitchen, Lina didn't stop within it but proceeded out the back door and the garden.

Home near secluded from the others and backing on to fields, Lina waited until sundown to move ahead with this part of the preparations.

Digging a deep hole precisely ten paces from the crab apple tree, then six to the left, Lina slipped the jewellery box inside a cloth pillowcase before lowering it into the ground and piling the dirt back on top.

Wise enough to not keep it within the confines of the home but not to hide it too far away that retrieval would be difficult, Lina brushed the dirt from her hands and knees.

Should anything happen, or a person become too curious about Marcus, there would be no direct evidence to prove that he was an enemy pilot.

Lina walked back to the house with a little less stress on her shoulders with the most immediate danger diverted.

Closing the back door, Lina peered up when Marcus stepped in from the corridor, papers nowhere in sight.

"Did something happen?" Lina queried, moving around the kitchen and checking the drawers - she was sure that there was a copy of a map in one.

The groan of added weight on a chair made Lina pause in her hunt, looking over a shoulder to find Marcus with arms folded on the backrest of a seat.

"While I was waiting for the tailor to bring out the garments, I overheard a conversation," Marcus elaborated slowly "The hatred for my country runs deep here, it was a little disorientating,"

Holding the lip of the counter, Lina stopped short of a sneer "You're in your enemy country, no one is going to be singing your praises. Get used to it."

Either Marcus needed to thicken his skin and let the comments slip away like water from a duck's back, or risk his own exposure for coming to Germany's defence.

Carefully, deliberately slow, Marcus shook his head "You misunderstand. I expect to hear things like that and worse. My concern is-," he paused like he needed a moment to collaborate his thoughts ",-Why you, when you suspected my deceit, chose not to hand me over,"

Not quite the result Lina was expecting when she asked what placed Marcus in brooding silence, it actually needed a second to be thought about.

"Why?" Lina repeated rhetorically, crossing both arms and tapping a finger on a forearm.

"Simple. Until I confirmed you were bluffing, I kept you around purely for the factor you were no risk at that present time," when they first met Marcus was wounded, showing signs of malnourishment and fatigue.

"The state you were in back then, I was happy to let you continue with the farce until I decided how best to approach the matter that I was harbouring an enemy pilot,"

Only when Paul came to pay a visit, and Lina learned the mystery surrounding Vilem's suicide was more intricate than a reckless act of stupidity did Lina see the benefit in Marcus's presence.

"When you told Peters that your papers were lost in the Channel, you confirmed my thoughts, that you were the same man who followed me inland," a smooth roll of the shoulders proceeded "After some further digging, I decided it would be best to put you to use rather than allow your detention,"

Relaxing both arms, one swept out in a dismissive gesture while she slipped into a chair.

"We have a saying here," Lina slung one arm over the back of the chair "Keep your friends close. Your enemies closer,"

Closing in on Marcus's broken fingers, Lina refrained from explaining that she broke them not only as a retaliation for the lies told about Vilem but because Lina knew well the vital importance of a pilots hands.

They were their primary tool while in the cockpit beside their eyes and rapid reaction times.

To hinder Marcus's capability to man a plane, was extra insurance that Lina could keep him trapped a little while longer.

"Also," Lina held up a single finger, to visually indicate the point she was about to make "I bear no ill will to any man, enemy or not, while they are beneficial to my purpose,"

Harbouring discontent over Marcus's allegiance would only make their working relationship difficult. If they could not set aside their differences, then they would be their own undoing.

"There is also the matter," Lina continued "That I am too, of German descent," clarifying another element of Marcus's issue, Lina curled down the pointed finger "Would be the kettle calling the pot black should I be too quick to hate a man for a factor of his life he had no say in,"

No one got to choose their nationality, heritage or places of birth; they had to accept it.

"Does that answer your concerns?" Lina finished, placing her chin on the back of a hand.

The whole time Lina was speaking, Marcus showed he was listening keenly and looking for an element of doubt.

"If you don't trust me, then this little arrangement will go up in flames," Lina pointed a finger between them "And I won't be the one to get burnt, I assure you,"

Creeping across Marcus's mouth, was a smirk.

Far from conniving or even like a wolf prepared to fool with its prey, it was self-satisfied, like each word from Lina's mouth was precisely what he wanted to hear.

"I don't doubt that you will see to it that you come out unscathed should this agreement of ours takes a nosedive," Marcus concurred, a polite nod of the head accompanying "I assure you that I will succeed in line with your request,"

Pleasing as Marcus's words were, Lina was not entirely convinced that his dour mood that evening was solely sourced from his concerns about the reasons behind Lina's decision to protect his secret.

Underlined with the mentioned worry was something else entirely, and Lina could not place a finger to it.

Rising out the chair Lina swept away the plait of hair from a shoulder, pacing slowly around the table.

"What is it that is really bothering you?" Lina asked, resting on the table beside the chair Marcus was using as a perch "You don't strike me as a man who often broods, but you have been most of the night,"

Calling Marcus out, there was an element of surprise that swept his visage - it was gone in a blink.

Bringing Lina into his peripheral, Marcus sighed "Am I that obvious?" He asked in a short laugh.

Far from the case, it was more so that Lina naturally was more observant than most.

"No. I've just been paying closer attention to you than most," Lina admitted without shame - it was already known to him that she had.

Marcus nodded once, apparently satisfied that he was not too open.

"My supposed brooding is because I have not been sure how to say this, without it being misconstrued," Marcus rubbed a hand across his jaw, thick brows narrowing into the middle of his forehead "But I have strong reason to believe that Elijah is an intelligence officer, not a simple soldier as he claims,"

Caught short by the admission of what held Marcus's tongue a prisoner for the evening, Lina allowed a second to think about it.

Could Elijah be an intelligence officer?

Their first meeting was purely by chance, as was their second.

Elijah too was persistent in the passing week to gain Lina's attention and possible trust, and there also was the factor that he was not a local to Dover, so why would he take leave to a place that was not his home?

Balancing up the facts that weighed in favour of Marcus's theory, Lina considered other factors.

Lina made it known to those in her Squadron that she was returning to Dover for the duration of her leave, could one of them have been approached and asked after Lina's whereabouts?

Learning from Paul what was the unconfirmed source of Lina being made to take leave. There was substantial evidence to suggest that Elijah - as Marcus suspected - could be a member of the intelligence sent out to gain insight into whether Lina knew anything of Vilem's supposed betrayal.

To suddenly put Elijah at arm's length would rouse unwanted attention should it be true, allowing him too close shared equal risk.

If Elijah were there to investigate Lina, then it would seem they would both be playing a game of bluff.

"I see why you think I would misunderstand," Lina jested lightly "I will keep what you have said in mind while with him,"

Marcus glanced back at Lina vacantly, his game face coming back strongly, it took her by surprise.

"Is it wise to keep his company at all?" Marcus queried, giving nothing away to his original thoughts behind the question.

Seeing Marcus's angle that it was safer to allow distance, Lina shook her head.

"If I place greater effort in chasing Elijah away, he could become even more of a thorn in our sides," head tilted to rest on a shoulder, Lina sighed "I will show caution, and see if I can gain evidence of your theory,"

Having to put both wiles and wit into motion on Elijah so soon after Marcus, was going to be exhausting but necessary.

If Elijah got even a whiff that Marcus was not who Lina claimed him to be, they would be in deep water.


	13. Watering Daisies

When Elijah announced that he sought more than a quick tumble among the sheets with Lina it was received dubiously.

A matter made a full shade greyer when Marcus mentioned his concerns that Elijah could be an intelligence officer and not a simple soldier.

"You're not limping," leaving a hand inside the rolled-up newspaper of chips they bought, Lina soon popped one in her mouth, chewing slowly.

Elijah looked down, bringing the leg forward "It is pretty much healed," he answered with a smile, taking a few chips into his mouth.

"Within a few weeks?" Lina showed disbelief in a rise of a brow "You bled when I tapped it with my shoe,"

Recalling the morning at the Priory, Lina could remember effortlessly how quickly Elijah lost colour when she kicked him.

Elijah bobbed his head side to side "You aimed for the actual cut, that, my little Doodlebug, was what started me limping,"

Excusing away the lacking limp, Elijah offered the last of the chips to Lina which she kindly refused.

"Don't blame your weak skin on me," retorting under breath, Lina gazed out over the view.

Invited to take a walk along the cliff tops, they were currently overlooking the harbour port, empty of passenger's vessels to be replaced with warships and cargo ferries.

Lina could see that Vilem's ship - HMS Arethusa - was still docked at the port from their vantage spot.

Should Lina obtain clearance, she could get on board and search Vilem's office providing it had not already been swept.

"You're not even listening,"

Catching Elijah's murmured complaint, Lina tore her eyes from the harbour and threw them back upon Elijah "Pardon?"

Elijah sighed a short laugh, the newspaper missing, he stood with arms folded.

"I said, you weren't listening," he repeated in some vague exasperation.

Lina nodded "I know. I heard that part," she cut back.

Elijah's eyes sprung open a little wider, a slight backwards movement following it, he quickly recuperated from his surprise.

"I asked if you were busy this evening," repeating what Lina missed, Elijah scratched behind an ear "I wanted to check that we didn't need to head back anytime soon?"

There was nothing Lina made plans for that evening, and so she was indeed free to stay a while longer.

"I'm starting to think that you either have attachment issues or abandonment ones," Lina remarked before resuming their walk.

"Ouch!" Elijah called, remaining behind a little way, "I was only asking if you wanted to stay here a little longer," defending his question, he stayed slightly behind.

Musing in silence on the matter, Lina once more looked out the channel - somewhere in its grey depths, was her father.

"Oh come on," Lina turned, walking backwards "You seem to follow me around like a little lost lamb. I haven't been able to shake you off since I got here,"

Though Lina laughed and came across as teasing, it was, in fact, an accurate observation.

Elijah seemed to appear out of the blue as and when he felt like it, no matter where Lina was.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say you've been following me," throwing it out like a whimsical quip, Lina observed Elijah's reaction.

There was something, a slight squint at the corner of his eye.

"Are you accusing me of stalking?" Elijah sounded aghast but did not directly deny the accusation Lina made.

"Yes." Lina stated boldly "I am."

Calling Elijah out directly, Lina stopped when he did.

"Listen, Doodlebug," Elijah waved out a hand, as though it would further the point he was about to make "My turning up has only been pure coincidence, other than when I came to your house,"

Standing in a place where the cliffs started to slope upwards allowed Elijah to stand close to eye level with Lina when he approached.

Taking both hands, Elijah stroked the backs with his thumbs, a softly coy smirk on his lips "I also seem to have some built-in radar that navigates me to you," trying to play it off like some romantic gesture, he leant in close, head tilting while he did.

"I'm sorry, but did you just refer to your manhood as a radar?" Staring a little dumbfounded back at Elijah, the soft lidded eyes that he wore became startlingly wide.

"You are killing me here, woman." Elijah exclaimed with a retraction of his hands, one placed on the back of his head while the other held his waist "You called me a scoundrel, yet say stuff like that with ease!"

Stressing the point that Lina held no decorum on some issues, it was answered with a shrug.

There was no need to be coy and elusive over the topic, not with the likes of a man like Elijah.

Pushing Elijah outside his comfort zone better-allowed Lina some insight into his personality, beyond the jack the lad visage.

"Did I embarrass you?" Lina cooed, stepping down the slope, prancing a little as she did "You're looking a little flushed."

Circling a finger around Elijah's face, Lina's lips were pulled to one side in a mocking smile.

Seeing Elijah come over, bashful was quite a sight to behold, given his previously thought unshakeable confidence.

"Aye, come on now, catch me a break," Elijah argued, pushing away the hand that singled out the colour of his cheeks "What happened to that demure little daisy I met, hm?"

Capturing Lina in a soft hold, Elijah crossed his hands over her back, pinning her, but not quite, to his chest.

"I'm afraid that little daisy wilted," Lina craned back her neck to look up at Elijah, laying a hand on his stomach - the muscles were taut.

"Wilted?" Elijah asked, lowering his face to Lina's so that their noses brushed "Maybe it can be restored with some watering?"

Walking them as his voice dropped to a husk, Lina didn't object when Elijah laid her upon the slope.

Supporting himself with his elbows, Elijah didn't move in for a kiss. Instead, he watched as Lina traced the lines of his lips with a finger.

It came about slowly, and with careful adjustment, until Elijah held the underside of Lina's thigh, bringing it up against him.

"It's broad daylight," Lina attempted to make a weak excuse, but it fell away with the slow rolling of Elijah's hips.

Slow but firm, Elijah smiled "Then you best be quiet and not draw attention to us,"

Out of arguments to make, Lina held tightly to Elijah's forearm as he increased the tempo of his body, the soft grunts and whispered affections trickling into her ear.


	14. Skipping Puddles

Dodging around a puddle, Lina returned to Marcus's side once satisfied she would not waterlog a shoe.

"Welcome to the misery of the British weather," grumbling discontent for the vanishing days of sunshine, Lina pulled her coat tighter to her "Charmingly awful."

"I don't mind it," Marcus addresses the weather with indifference, keeping the shared umbrella centre of their bodies "Warm weather can become tiresome,"

Obviously, there were some things that Lina needed to bring Marcus up to speed with.

"I will say this now before I end up with second-hand embarrassment," Lina smiled pitifully.

"They will spot you for not being British if you don't complain about the weather," shamefully they were almost famous for it "And if we get arrested because you haven't informed someone it's raining for the sixth time, I will kill you myself,"

Marcus glanced down at Lina in a mix of puzzlement and amusement "Duly noted. Moan about the weather at any given opportunity,"

Pleased that the lesson was grasped with no need to repeat or elaborate, Lina nearly missed their turning.

Tugging lightly on Marcus's coat sleeve, Lina motioned for them to take the slip of an alley.

Narrow, and not wide enough to walk side by side, Lina was not shy to get a little wet, but Marcus showed insistence for her to take the umbrella.

Eyes rolling, Lina led them, sidestepping a metal bin "I've been meaning to ask," adjusting to look over a shoulder, a tiny smile came to life "How is your side healing?"

The story was told to Elijah, and any who asked was that Marcus was on leave to recuperate from the slash that stretched half his right side.

Knowing how it was coming along would keep Lina from being caught short if her version failed to match Marcus's.

Meeting Lina's eye, Marcus didn't speak at first, but placed a hand on her waist, guiding her away from a large and muddy puddle "Fine, a little sore if I move a certain way," he answered before taking back his hand.

Facing front again so not to be caught out by any more puddles, Lina hummed while looking left and right when they emerged from the alley mouth.

Purposely taking Marcus for tours around Dover to become familiar with its layout so that he would not need to rely on Lina; it also allowed her to point out all and any places where Marcus could start making acquaintances possible allies.

"There is the Porter Arms, mainly a seafarer watering hole, but you sometimes get the Spiv's and factory workers going in," Listing the necessary information, Lina passed back the umbrella when Marcus reached for it.

Examining the pub face, Marcus lightly tapped Lina's side "We have company," he warned, though allowed no indication where he sourced their tailer.

Looping an arm with Marcus's subtle nudge set them walking again, another alley between two houses, it would take them to one of the many parks.

Switching conversation to idle day to day topics, Lina stopped dead when someone called out.

Like Marcus, they side glanced at one another simultaneously before unlinking their arms and turning.

"Are you following me again?" Cutting straight to the chase, Lina added in a smile to make it seem less sharp.

Tilting back the umbrella to better show his face, Elijah wore a frown "Still talking that stalking nonsense?"

Glancing up at Marcus while slipping her hands in the pockets of her coat, Lina cocked her head "How long has he been following?"

Pushing back the cuff of his shirt, Marcus inspected the watch on his wrist "Ten minutes at least," he confirmed with a tilt of the hand "Give or take." Laying it in the pocket of his slacks, they both turned back to Elijah.

"Is it a crime now to be walking behind someone?" Laughing the matter off, Elijah glanced off to the side "Christ."

After their walk along the cliff tops became more than a walk, Lina successfully dodged Elijah.

When their deed was done, they had stayed talking for a while, laying among the grass until Elijah dozed off.

It was bad form, but Lina left Elijah behind without waking him.

"Walking isn't a crime, but you're always far too conveniently placed," Lina observed.

There was nothing in Marcus and Lina's conversation that could be considered odd, except their talk about the weather - roughly ten minutes prior.

Catching the slight dip in Marcus's mouth, it looked as though he too realised their error.

Directly they said nothing incriminating, but in context, they had.

"You know what, I will leave," Elijah announced, turning sharply on the path.

Eyes rolling when Marcus motioned for Lina to follow after Elijah, he placed a gentle peck on her cheek "I will see you at home,"

Waving Marcus off, Lina ducked out from their umbrella rushing to get under Elijah's.

Shaking back her hair, Lina carefully patted away, the rain droplets that rolled down her face.

"I didn't say for you to leave," Lina chastised Elijah's petulant behaviours "I merely pointed out you have a peculiar sense of timing just to appear."

No longer walking, Elijah faced Lina sharply before extending an arm and pointing to the park's entrance.

"I am staying in a house over there; I happened to see you waltzing by with your' family friend' -," dramatically emphasising the two words, Elijah retrieved his arm "You have made every effort to avoid me this week. I finally had the chance to find out why and took it."

Strangely, Elijah showed genuine upset over Lina's intentioned avoidance of him. Not precisely shouting but bordering on one, his brow knotted in the middle of his forehead.

"Have I upset you?" Lina asked, taking a slow step closer to Elijah.

Head snapping back, Elijah looked utterly confused by the question. There was no intention to play on the obvious and act ignorant, but Lina could not tell whether Elijah was angry or upset, possibly both.

Inhaling stressfully, Elijah clasped his jaw, staring hard at Lina "A little." He admitted with a slight nod.

Lips pushed out in a small pout; it didn't entirely hide the smile "Because I left, or that I kept giving you the slip since?" Poking the proverbial wound delivered, Lina reached out to cup Elijah's chin.

Though Elijah did not brush Lina off, he didn't soften at the contact.

"Are you doing this on purpose?" Firing out the accusation that Lina was purposely toying with Elijah, it came with a crestfallen face.

Placing the other hand on Elijah's chest, Lina closed her eyes while shaking her head "Not at all," denying the matter, Lina soon smiled "It was more a test,"

Snatching Elijah's umbrella, Lina started walking "You made it clear from the start what you wanted, you got it, I thought that would be it from you," skipping over puddles, Lina spun around "Turns out I was wrong about you,"

Even though Elijah stated otherwise in the corridor of Lina's home, lingering doubts remained.

With not knowing if Elijah's interest in Lina was only to obtain information, she was throwing extra caution to the wind.

Standing with arms raised in an open display of taking insult, Elijah soon slapped them back against his sides.

"Are you really so desperate to think so lowly of me?" Apparently unbothered by the rain, Elijah strolled while Lina continued to skip around.

"Did I not already make that clear?" Lina laughed "I declared you a fiend and a scoundrel the third day of our acquaintance,"

Elijah scoffed, but it was not harsh, more amused.

"You still believe that I am those things?" Elijah called, their distance growing.

Twirling once, Lina dropped the umbrella to the side "Of course!" She grinned "You're the worst of the worst, sir!"

Relaxed in their lively exchange, Lina stayed in place when Elijah encroached, catching her by the waist.

With Elijah's arms acting like some barrier, Lina leant back on them, the smile on her mouth becoming less mischievous, but softening.

Standing under a canopy of two trees twisted branches, small pellets of rain broke through, slowly dampening their hair and shoulders.

"I hope you only mean my character with that statement," speaking in a low tone, closer to a gravel, Elijah laid his forehead on Lina's, once more showing the same half-lidded eyes as on the clifftop.

There was a little extra excitement in their boldness to engage in not only daylight but wide open space.

Lina wouldn't describe herself as a thrill-seeker, but she would do so happily if an opportunity arose to try it again.

"I'm afraid I have a short memory," Lina teased, a finger pulling down Elijah's bottom lip slightly "I can't remember if that applies only to your character,"

Elijah swayed back a fraction, head cocked.

"Oh?" He breathed, mouth in a coy spread.

"Do I need to remind you?" Lowered to a whisper, Elijah scoped around them rapidly before he started to walk backwards, bringing Lina along with him.

Holding Elijah's forearms and stepping in time with his, Lina was about to refuse, until she stumbled when Elijah dropped to sit on a bench.

Lifted to keep from hitting the seat of the bench, Lina was sat in a straddle of Elijah's lap, a rapid gasp breaking open her mouth it was sealed with his.

"Ssh!" Elijah hushed, taking away the hand that he'd pressed between Lina's thighs to fumble with the buckle of his belt.

Skirt bunched around Lina's thighs, the crumpled fabric outwardly appeared as it did due to the way Lina was sat on Elijah's lap.

Beneath, it was a whole lot less innocent than a glance would seem.

Holding Elijah's face tightly between her hands, Lina pressed a fierce kiss on him, rocking her hips slowly.

"This best not become a habit," shuddery and whispering, Lina broke apart their lips ", Or you shall permanently be a scoundrel," tailing her words with a small, pleasured yip, Lina rolled her neck.

Lip trapped between the teeth, Elijah exhaled slowly, encouraging the movement of Lina's hips with his hands, they pinched at points.

"This isn't a bad habit," just like when Lina spoke, Elijah's voice was a low shuddering husk.

"Could become a hobby," laying short pecking kisses up Lina's neck, a hand left Lina's hip to cup the back of her head, bringing her closer to him.

Forehead to forehead, Lina's hands fell, twisting in Elijah's shirt.

Not once planning for such an encounter that afternoon, Lina considered just how dangerous a game she was playing with Elijah.

What would become of these meetings if Elijah turned out to be earnest, and not what Lina deemed him to be?

Was it cruel to potentially play with the feelings of a man without justification to be doubting them?

Would it all be made easier should it turn out to be accurate, and Lina confirmed that Elijah only held a singular goal?

"Doodlebug?" Elijah whispered against Lina's mouth, the hand in her hair combing through it "You can trust me,"

Staring back at Elijah, a hand came to lay on his face, fingers stroking across his lips, tickled by the soft bristles of his beard.

"Can I?" She asked in a faint whisper.

It was a tall order to ask of Lina to trust him, especially at that moment.

Pecking a kiss to her fingertips, Elijah nodded slowly "Yes," he answered with conviction "No matter what you can confide in me,"

That single sentence struck Lina harder than it probably should have.

No matter what Elijah said, Lina refused to place her trust in him, not yet, not until it was known with utter certainty that he was not a snake in the grass for Lina.

Kept from speaking when Lina's body gave in, Elijah joined her in the burning heat a few seconds after.

Slumping forward when the final ebb died with a harsh rolling of her hips, Lina slipped her arms around Elijah's shoulders, burying in Elijah's neck.

Breaths in short pants, Lina giggled softly when Elijah kissed the top of her head, arms wrapped tightly around her.

Head rested back, Elijah closed his eyes, humming softly when Lina remained in the crook of his neck, stroking a finger down the stretched muscle of his neck.

Resting in the afterglow for a while, Lina sat up, slipping off Elijah, buckling up his trousers for him before getting back on her feet.

"Running off again?" Elijah stood after some adjustment of his trousers.

Smiling, Lina agreed with a nod of the head "I have too," she mentioned before setting a kiss on Elijah, pushing up on her toes to reach him "I am sure your radar will locate me again at some point,"

Cracking the small joke, Lina retreated "You're a stalking scoundrel, after all," taking each step carefully while backing away, Lina blew Elijah a kiss.

No effort made to hide the disappointment, Elijah shook his head "I hope this part isn't going to become a habit?" He called out.

"It could do," Lina sang back gleefully, turning around with a wave of the hand.


	15. Secret Tongues

“He said I could trust him,” Lina announced, still stirring the tea as she had been for the last twenty minutes.

Head down and still reading the paper, Marcus responded while turning a page “Was that before or after you fucked him?”

The teaspoon landed, knocking over the broken fingers and forcing Marcus’s jaw to tense.

“It was during, actually,” Lina corrected, though Marcus did not need to know.

Fingers pulsing, Marcus folded up the paper “Is this your definition of keeping friends close, and enemies closer?” He inquired, taking his own tea in hand.

Lina laughed, sitting away from the table “Then what would that make you, hm?” She asked, a confident tilt to her chin.

True, they had been sexually elicited with each other on a few occasions, but Marcus had not considered it to be anything more or less than meeting mutual needs.

“I think our set up is a little different; we are aware of who the other is,” Marcus finally took a sip “Though I have noticed you seem to use it as a reward for when I can bring you something,”

On more than one occasion, almost all if Marcus thought about it, Lina would initiate with him more when Marcus could give her something.

Biting down on her lip, Lina looked away “Is that a complaint?” She asked, an undertone of daring within it.

Though Marcus could often be cruel and well aware of it, he held no need to.

“I have no complaints. It’s actually quite the encouragement not to come home empty-handed,” Marcus admitted, there was no shame in telling Lina that he enjoyed this specific element of their arrangement.

Though Marcus was sure, it was never discussed or added when they sat down and defined the lines of expectations.

Lina moved, walking around the table much like she had when they consummated the tensions between them - and it caught his interest.

“So?” Lina asked, hitching up the sides of her skirt, before hiking a leg over Marcus’s, and once more he adjusted to accept her body, sitting back as he held her waist “Do you have anything for me today?”

Silently sipping the tea, Marcus stayed focused on Lina, basking a little when she rubbed herself against him.

“I do, actually,” taking a little longer to answer as he became distracted with the heat building in his groin, Marcus contemplated making her stop.

A thought short-lived when her breathing became a little more tantalising.

Stretching over to put down the cup, Marcus’s hands soon clasped Lina’s hips as their rhythm became more vigorous.

“Sag es mir danach,” voice caught between a whisper and a moan, Lina held Marcus’s thighs, throwing back her head.

Possibly it was their shared tongue that Marcus liked the most. Lina reserved its use to these times only when she would direct Marcus to how she wanted it, and which way.

Lifting Lina off to stand, Marcus, positioned himself at her rear, shedding his belt and trousers as she lost the skirt and undergarments.

Body curled back, and neck craned their mouths came together in heated pants, Marcus’s hand slipping between Lina’s thighs, she buckled forward when Marcus’s fingers stroked her sensitive skin.

Gripping the edge of the table, Lina’s head dropped in the gap of her arms “Schwerer!”

Demanding, as always, Marcus positioned his feet more firmly as he took a tighter grip on Lina’s hips.

Head back, Marcus’s eyes closed “ich bin nahe.”

Telling Lina that he was almost at his end, she stood, pushing Marcus back down upon the chair.

Groaning as Lina took over their pace and slowed it down, Marcus brought his legs to close, allowing Lina to support herself on them.

“Ich bin fast da,” it came more like a whine, impatient in tone.

Wanting them both to be satisfied, Marcus resumed teasing between Lina’s legs, her reaction palpable.

Turning to seek Marcus’s mouth, Lina brought back a hand, holding his face “Halte nicht an,”

Not needing to be told, Marcus continued, the tenseness in her body increasing, he too, became the same.

Tucking both hands under Lina’s thighs, Marcus pushed them back against her body, assuming control again, he paced each thrust with her growing pleas to bring her climax.

When Lina’s back arched from his chest with a close to shouted: “oh gott ja!” Marcus’s body convulsed violently, but pleasurable.

Body pressed back to Marcus’s chest, Lina wore a tired but fulfilled smile “What did you have to tell me?” She asked in a heaving breath.

Resting his head on Lina’s shoulder, Marcus needed a second to gather his breathing, arms tight around her waist, he sighed as they returned to business.

“I have finally found someone willing to talk,” mentioning the man Marcus met while in a cafe, he swallowed deeply, his mouth dry.

“He’s one of ours, and I know him personally,” alluding to the finer details, for the time being, Marcus relinquished the hold on Lina when she stood.

Collecting the discarded clothes, Marcus brought his trousers back up around his waist.

“Who?” Lina asked, still a little short of breath, she stepped into her skirt, shimmying to bring it back to her hips.

Pushing a hand through his hair to set it back in place, Marcus shook his head a little “I will tell you once I am certain of where his loyalty lies,” not wanting to risk making a premature move, Marcus held back the small snippet.

Even though Marcus was sure as he was alive that the man he met that afternoon was one he could trust, he still wanted to execute caution.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sag es mir danach. - Tell me afterwards.  
> Schwerer - harder  
> ich bin nahi - I am close  
> Ich bin fast da - I am almost there  
> Halte nicht an. - Don't stop  
> oh gott ja! - Oh god yes!


	16. Matchbook Strategy

The Porter Arms was - as told - a seafarers watering hole.

Nursing slowly through a pint Marcus sat at the bar, listening to the conversations that had the room divided.

Servicemen of the Arethusa - the ship captained by Vilem - was in a straight division over the circumstances over their forced stop on land.

One side of the room could not believe that their Captain committed suicide of his own accord - it was not in his character.

From another, came a very different view of the man.

Vilem was described as cruel and not afraid to risk his men's lives with no certainty of the outcome for the orders given.

They talked in a way that would, to many, sound like the starting whispers of a mutiny.

Collecting the parts that allowed a picture to start to build, Marcus concluded that Vilem Dok was a driven man, who held the respect of most of his crew, until recent months.

Something cautiously undisclosed in their whispered talks, happened some weeks before they came back to port.

Eyes falling to the chipped and weathered bar top, Marcus scratched a match, lighting it and his cigarette.

Though paying closer attention to the talks surrounding, Marcus heard the pub door opening and a stool's creaking.

Not paying it close attention, Marcus listened to the man's finger's rhythm when they tapped the bar.

One tap. Pause. Three taps. Two interludes. One tap, followed by two more.

It was not a morse code, but it was a short message, a signal to draw the attention of those who understood.

Placing the hand with a cigarette to the bar, Marcus tapped it four times.

"You're a new face here," the man spoke, staying in his seat, but turning to face Marcus.

Head coming up, Marcus shifted to sit as the man did "I am on leave only," he answered, taking a sip of his drink.

Sharp-eyed, dull in the face, it was hard to decide if the man actually appeared interested in holding a conversation.

"Leave? Since when?" He asked, barely looking at the barmaid when she put down his drink.

A quick calculation of time, Marcus used the time to draw on the cigarette "Two and a bit weeks,"

The time passed was slow, and yet much happened within it.

"Did you opt for leave, or was it forced?"

The question seemed innocent enough, but Marcus understood clearly what was being asked.

Had Marcus defected, or been forced to stay.

"Forced, injury," holding up the broken fingers, Marcus pointed them to his side "Among other things,"

He said nothing and instead drained the half-pint ordered before slipping off the stool in a way that brought him close to Marcus.

"I was sent to locate you," the man Marcus knew to be called Eric whispered "Meet me tomorrow, there is a cafe just off the high street, I will be there at noon,"

Covering for the whispered message by buttoning up his coat, Eric said nothing else before departing.

So, there was a belief that Marcus defected from Germany?

Concerning as it was, Marcus was sure that he could clear the matter up with little repercussion.

At least that was what Marcus hoped the outcome would be.

Should Eric learn that Marcus was staying to aid a woman in her desire to know what caused her brother's death, Marcus was not so sure it would be received for what it was should it be taken back to his superiors.

Ascertaining that contact was secured, or at least was about to be, Marcus returned to listening to the talks.

Paying mind to both, Marcus picked out one snippet that was present in both.

Vilem spoke of concern for someone he called 'Bluebird' - expressing worry over what could happen to them should something Vilem wanted to be kept a secret, come out.

Thumb gliding back and forth on the butt of the cigarette, Marcus recalled that Lina stated that Vilem never used her name while addressing her, but failed to elaborate on what pet name was used.

Neither, did it seem that Vilem told his men in any confidence who he was speaking about?

Possibly the two were connected, but Marcus would not know until asking.

Deciding to stay a while longer, in case the men became looser tongued with the flowing drink, Marcus glanced over when the stool directly next gained a new occupant - Elijah.

"Didn't expect to find you here," Elijah greeted with a chuckle "A bit too low class for your tastes,"

Far too convenient again with timing, Elijah ordered a pint and another for Marcus.

"I, on occasion, don't mind a low brow evening," Marcus replied in kind, thanking Elijah for the drink after.

Half expecting Lina to be in Elijah's company, there was mild surprise to see that she was absent.

Left alone with Elijah, it would allow Marcus to find something, even a snippet, that would confirm what he long suspected.

"Low brow? With those things I imagine you have many low brow evenings," Elijah observed Marcus's eyebrows with a small smirk.

"Only when those of low IQ are present, something I notice happens when you're around," Marcus responded dryly "Which is a lot."

Making it open that Marcus knew that Elijah was around more frequently than maybe noticed by their mutual friend, he took the freshly poured pint in hand.

It was warm, like the previous.

"This is a small town, people happen across each other," Elijah shrugged, gulping down the pint "What I find strange is how aware of me you seem to be,"

Marcus flagged the red herring, Elijah was trying to lead with reasonable counters that he was not out of place, but Marcus was too cautious.

"You're hard to miss, you're not exactly small," Marcus tapped a hand on the edge of the bar.

"That, and you seem like a bloodhound whenever Lina is around," directly calling Elijah a tracking hound, he cocked his head, looking as though in thought.

Snorting into his beer, Elijah choked, thumping his chest.

"Bloodhound? Pleasant of you to say," Elijah chuckled, letting the comment slip away "I do suppose it must seem that way, but it really is just chance encounters,"

Choosing conversation with care but not trying to be noticeable with it, Marcus again turned the talks away from himself with a single question: "You never told me what regiment you're with?"

Marcus disclosed already that he was Air Force - or rather Luftwaffe without saying it - however, Elijah dodged the question when it was returned.

Sighing laboriously, Elijah pinched a cigarette between his teeth "I don't really talk about it," he patted around his pockets.

"Loose talk and all," he threw in, diving a hand to check his inside pockets.

"But I suppose it's only fair—oh, cheers," leaning into the match Marcus lit, he sat back with a deep exhale "Fair that I tell you,"

Marcus shook the match to snuff the flame, concurring Elijah's statement with a nod, though Marcus could tell that Elijah attempted to stall for time with the weak act of searching for either match or lighter.

A book of matches was in Elijah's hand, curled into the palm, and attempted to be hidden on his pint glass side.

"I'm a Para, or was," Elijah laughed loudly, scratching under his nose "Fucked my landing, and my leg. But those German shits don't half like unloading on you,"

That was a lie.

Lina already said that Elijah claimed his leg healed and was in working order.

Elijah could well be playing the angle to see how much they talked; after all, it would be an odd thing to mention.

"Did they not transfer you to a land unit?" Marcus inquired, wanting to pick apart Elijah's story but not in a way that seemed purposeful.

Wrist balanced on the bar, Elijah flicked the ash with a slow shake of the head "Not yet," he confirmed confidently, selling his mistake as indecision "Have to wait until I get the all-clear from the Docs to return to service,"

A smart cover for his being away from the combat zones, Marcus would grant Elijah that.

"Any idea when that will be?" Marcus sipped slowly on the beer, following the barmaid's path as she walked one end of the bar to the other to serve her customers.

Elijah blew out a deep breath "Want to get me out the way?" It sounded like a joke, but there was a serious undertone.

If Elijah were absent, it would make Marcus's life that little easier "Not at all, I just know I am suffering being idle, so I assumed the same would be for you,"

Marcus was not one who liked having nothing to do; it was why working for Lina as he was, was not such a bad thing; it kept him occupied.

"Idle?" Elijah queried "She not roped you into some other job?" Watching Marcus far too close than what the question should have allowed, Elijah searched Marcus's face for any small sign of nervousness.

Were Marcus not a well put together individual, a crack would have shown when Elijah asked that particular question.

What it did, though, was put to bed Marcus's doubt.

Elijah was not a paratrooper as he claimed, but working in the intelligence sector.

They were both more than aware that there were no more jobs around the house to be done, and there were no feasible options for work beyond it.

"I'm sure she will break something to give me a job, should I annoy her much more," Marcus laughed, taking a jokey angle with their talk.

Elijah close to sniggered, but though there was a smile on his mouth, it did not match the sharpness of his gaze.

"How are your fingers by the way?"

Elijah extended the polite courtesy, pointing to the hand Marcus kept rested in his lap.

"Still broken, but getting there," Marcus lifted the splinted hand, there was still some weeks before he could take the bandaging off.

"I'm wondering how hard you have to punch a man to break your hand," Elijah sat more relaxed, leaning on the bar with a thumb tapping his glass "That must have been one hell of a hit,"

Marcus sighed "It was dark, I misjudged the distance,"

Elijah showed some confusion "Distance?"

Nodding once, Marcus lifted his glass to his mouth, stating: "He was a lot closer than I thought."

By close, Marcus could not have exaggerated more, Lina was right at his side as she calmly snapped his fingers with far too much ease than was comfortable.

Trying to hide the laugh behind a hand, Elijah soon held it out as though it was an apology.

"I imagine his head was spinning after that," Elijah mused with a long sniggering sigh "Though deserved, by the sounds of it,"

Quietly agreeing, Marcus pondered whether to wrap up their conversation and head back, it was starting to get dark and late.

"Want another?" Elijah asked, pointing to the barmaid who was in a fluster with the men at the other end of the bar.

"If it allows a rescue of the lady-"Marcus drained his pint ",- then certainly,"

Elijah barked a laugh "What a gentleman you are," clapping Marcus's back with a hand; he patted him a few times "Alright."

Whistling down the bar, the barmaid spun around hurriedly. Coming up to their spot without even a word to the men who she managed to enamour against her will.

"Oh thank you," the barmaid whispered, coming in close and leaning on the pump.

"These Navy boys are the worst," she reached one pint across "It's like they've never seen a woman," the second came across the bar "On the house."

Side glancing when Elijah did, they shared a mutual moment and shrugged before tapping their new drinks together.

"Cheers," Elijah declared loudly, obnoxiously.

Though it was not what held Marcus's attention.

Faint, but growing in volume shouts and shattering glass teased from the double doors of the pub.

Elijah turned, mouth hanging open to start speaking it snapped closed when someone burst in through the doors.

"Here, lads! You got to come to see this!" A shipman hollered for all to hear, silencing the men "Our Wilkins is getting his arse handed to him by a woman!" Throwing up an arm to call them all out, he dashed back out the doors.

For a second, there was nothing.

Then came the scraping and tipping over chairs as men rushed for the door like an evacuation had been called.

Shouting, laughter and more acting in place of a siren.

Catching Elijah's curious gaze, they slipped out their seats.

"I bet you a crown," Elijah stuffed both hands in his pockets "It's her."

Marcus never was one to gamble, but the odds on this one happened to be favourable.

"Alright, a crown," they stopped at the doors that were still swinging wildly with the last stragglers, shaking each other's hand.

Though they didn't actually shake on anything when Marcus intentionally offered his broken hand, forcing Elijah to provide the one hiding the matchbook.

"Found them, did you?" Marcus asked, turning Elijah's hand to tap the booklet.

With nothing more to say, Marcus held open the door "Are you coming?"

Image result for spitfire sketch

Old Nell was a brute.

More man than woman, Nell swung the first shipmate of the Arethusa around with as much ease as twirling a cloth.

Jostled in the crowd of onlookers outside The Ferryman's, Lina grimaced when a punch landed with a sickening crunch.

"Five pound says he doesn't get back up," John - Lina's fellow squadmate - bet when the man fell hard on his back.

Taking a finger away from the pint in hand, Lina jabbed John's arm "You still owe me five bob," reminding him of the debt, Lina soon grinned "Double or nothing?"

Using Lina's head as a perch for his arm, John clinked their glasses "Deal."

From Lina's other side, Paul tutted disapproval but said nothing.

Out of the blue that evening, Lina had opened her door expecting to find either Elijah or Marcus on the doorstep.

Not fifteen pilots, one stressed wing commander, and a tale of being on two days leave.

Lina knew then why they were there on her doorstep; she knew all too well what a two-day leave could entail.

Watching from the front row of the gathered circle, Nell - built like an outside latrine - circled the man who was still sprawled on his back.

Lina flinched as John did, the arm on her head slipping to fall on a shoulder when Nell drove a foot into the shipmates gut.

The crowd whistled and jeered, some sucking in breaths as they personally felt the blow.

"Maybe we should send her to fight the Germans!" Tinker - real name Thomas - suggested from behind, his arm slipping through the gap to jab at the woman "She'd take them all!"

From their section that they commandeered, raucous laughter broke out; even Paul managed to relax and join them in their wild scenarios of packing Nell off to the western front.

"I think we can say that I won that bet," John chided while standing tall and almost proud "He ain't getting up anytime soon," he added with a gesture of his head.

John, sadly, looked to speak the truth for the results of their bet.

"Alright, you get a fiver," Lina agreed, smiling as her drink came to her lips "And we will call it even for your debt," she added before John even started to object.

With a finger poked to her cheek, John shook his head "You sneaky little minx," he called loudly "Stop bending the rules,"

Brushing away the finger Lina shook her head "We set no rules; therefore none were broken," arguing his point, Lina nodded along when Paul concurred with her position.

"Aye now, bringing in a higher up to agree to your backhanded methods is not fair," John tossed back, though it came in a merry laugh.

"Backhanded methods?" Lina squeaked "You offend my honour, sir!" She declared with a stamp of her foot, right over John's toes.

Smiling with innocence when John doubled over, Lina didn't turn when Paul leant down to whisper close to her ear.

"Leave my men in one piece, they're only here for two days," it came stressfully, but tinged by a laugh.

Hearing Paul call them 'my men' created a short bubble of discontent in her gut. They were only under Paul's command because her father was no longer present.

"We both know what happens on a two day leave," Lina peered up at Paul "My breaking them should not be the concern."

Many a tale could be told of their mishaps and shenanigans when allowed leave from their airbases.

None of them was saintly.

Paul considered Lina's point before agreeing, but not without a small word of warning.

"Don't encourage them," he said with a firm tone that was short-lived by his rapid smile "Too much."

Lina was not the enabler of their hijinks, but she certainly never stopped them either.

"I would do no such thing," Lina sang sweetly, once more the picture of innocence, it fell when the sharp whistles cut across the evening sky.

Later than expected, too late to be precise, the police arrived to disperse the crowd. Ordering them all away and to go back to their business, one, in particular, stopped in front of Lina.

"You again." Constable Peters spat the words angrily.

Confused, Lina looked the Constable head to toe "Whatever do you mean by that?"

Stroking his chin in a sarcastic display of thinking the Constable soon shook his head "Oh perhaps that wherever trouble is, you're close by," he answered tauntingly, as though hoping to provoke her in some way.

Small sniggers and whispers started behind Lina before one of her Squadron announced obnoxiously loud: "Her middle name is trouble,"

Refraining from calling something back, Lina stayed serenely quiet.

"Oh here she goes," another of her Squadron whispered.

"I am appalled by this accusation, have you no tact in the presence of a lady," years spent being forced to talk as though a plum was in her mouth, was now applied in practice.

"She says with a pint in her hand!" John lauded under his breath.

Constable Peters took a noticeable step back, cocking his head as though Lina became a whole new person in front of his eyes.

"I will have your badge number sir," she announced "This treatment is most upsetting, I will be speaking with your superior at once,"

From the right corner of one eye, Lina played witness to Paul's visual exasperation, head in hand; he stood with some shame for what he was witnessing.

Constable Peters scoffed from deep within his throat, pushing up his helmet and readying to parry Lina, until a young officer rushed to his side, whispering in one ear.

Lina was sure she heard 'Mountbatten' part the young man's lips, for no sooner was the officer done whispering, was Constable Peters looking as though he was about to spit feathers.

Lips twisted in some show of frustration, a vein popped in Peters temple, fists made of his hands.

Smiling, openly smug, Lina raised her pint to him "As you were, Constable,"

Relaxing, reluctantly, into a smile, Constable Peters dragged in a breath "My deepest apologies, your highness."

Never one to use her title without need or purpose; this one occasion was permitted as it was not Lina who played the hand.

"You're forgiven," Lina spoke soothingly, with a dash of sarcasm.

With a polite tip of the helmet, Peters stalked away, defusing his humiliation on those his officers were rounding up.

"Pompous little man," Lina grumbled, her formal tutoring dropping away in an instant before she turned to face the members of her Squadron who were all in theatrical displays mocking her title "And you lot can shut up! Or you will be sleeping in a field, you prissy toed shits!"

With whoops and loudly called "Ooohs!" They collapsed into bursts of laughter and jeering.

"Careful lads! The princess will have our heads on a block!"

"We'll be swinging from the gallows!"

They continued on, and on, and on.

Stressfully kneading the centre of her forehead, Lina's shoulder sagged with a deep sigh.

"Why did you bring them here?" Whining complaint at Paul who stood shaking his head slowly, Lina dropped her head to rest on his forearm.

Paul patted the top of Lina's head sympathetically "I didn't bring them. They brought me." He stated, in all manners of seriousness.

From under Paul's hand, Lina made ready to admonish Paul's lack of control jokingly but fell short of speaking.

The Squadron members no longer discussing the manners of death Lina would bestow them, were clustering down the hill and heading for another pub.

In particular, one that Lina knew - and mistakenly told them - stayed open long after its licensing hours.

Though partaking in a lock-in was not a poor sounding concept by any means, it appeared as though she held little choice about whether to attend when John swung an arm around her shoulders and started them walking.

"Come on," John sang, lightly pinching her cheek. "I will buy you a drink," he added as though it would be an encouragement.

"How kind of you," Lina grumbled, turning to hurry Paul along, she paused a little when two faces she did not expect to see together, came out of the crowd.

Marcus and Elijah looked to be debating a topic, and something Marcus said garnered a shove from Elijah.

It wasn't rough, playful at most, but Elijah looked none too happy about it.

"Going to invite the husband and friend?" Paul asked in a whisper, coming up beside Lina and John.

Scowling back when Paul shrugged, Lina held no choice but to bring Marcus when he had no key to get back in, and to invite one without the other, was socially a no-no.

Breaking out from under John's arm, Lina approached the two men, eyeing both of them with some reservation.

"Do you want to join us?" Lina politely extended the invitation.

Elijah didn't even seem to take a second to think about it before he was on board "I have nothing better to do,"

Marcus, on the other hand, showed to be in two minds about something.

"I will head back; I've had a long day," he answered quietly.

Whether by purpose or that it was how he felt, Marcus, sounded tired.

Curious, Lina knew better than to ask anything for the time being "Alright then," taking the key out her coat pocket it was passed to Marcus "I make no promises of how loud they will be on our return."

At once, both men perked up their heads with a unison question of "They?"

"Mhm," Lina hummed while walking away "They're staying the night," she confirmed, though she held no idea where she was going to sleep them all beyond leaving them where they fell.


	17. Whispers in the ladies room

The room was warm and smoky. Tables pushed together to seat the eighteen; the middle was decorated with half drunk and empty glasses.

Checking the clock above the bar, it was two in the morning - they had been there for five hours.

Sat beside John for most of the evening, the game of cards underway looked no closer to drawing to an end.

Arm lounged on John’s shoulder Lina checked his cards “You’re cheating.” Accusing him in a whisper, Lina took notice of the extra card up his sleeve.

John was handsome enough, dark-haired with grey eyes. A charming individual, but a crooked one.

“They don’t know that,” John hushed back, dropping down a card after placing the cigarette in his mouth, it bobbed up and down as he spoke.

Sitting back, Lina withdrew her arm, but not without flicking the back of John’s ear first.

Tilting the glass that became empty at some point, Lina took note of those still awake.

Tinker - the youngest of them - was asleep at the end, slumped down in his chair with tiny snores, and an ashtray precariously balanced on his head; he was going to get quite a fright when woken.

Two were at the other end of the room playing a game of darts, while the person who was supposed to keep score started to doze off, pint slipping dangerously from his grasp.

As for Elijah, and even Marcus, they had been left to their own devices for the entire evening.

They slotted in well with the men from Lina’s Squadron, but her distance was kept with a purpose.

Not wanting to be seen cosy with either man as Lina knew that her flight companions would jump at the opportunity to tease her mercifully, she made every effort to stay out of their company - until now.

Glass in hand and seeking a refill, Lina found that her footing was not as sturdy as it had been.

Needing to take each step with conscious attention, Lina covered it by sauntering and both eyes on the ground, trying to appear as if she was thinking about something, rather than drunk.

Reaching the bar without a single stumble, Lina beamed at her success while slapping the glass on the bar top.

“...’nother?” The barmen, a man in his late fifties with only one eye, asked in a grunt.

Lina tapped the edge of the glass “If you would be so kind,” speaking more in a hum, to hide the sloppiness of her tongue, she did it with a smile.

“You’re drunk.” A whisper tickled Lina’s ear, forcing her to slide across the bar to angle her body to look at the person.

“I’m actually pissed as a newt,” she corrected, climbing a little clumsily on to a stool.

Holding the back of Lina’s stool, Marcus’s other arm laid on the bar “I was aiming to be polite,” he returned causally, looking away briefly when the barmen served her drink.

Attempting to take the freshly poured beer, Lina found it gone within a blink.

“Put that back,” tapping the bar and demanding that Marcus released it from the hostage; she swayed a little “Now.”

Marcus didn’t hide that he was disappointed by the state Lina managed to get herself in, but he returned the drink without fuss, but it came with a soft whispered: “We need to talk.”

Palpable urgency came with the request, and Marcus left the bar side heading for the bathrooms.

The set up of the bar was unlike others where the restrooms were on opposite sides. Here there was a small corridor, with the ladies at the top and down three steps, was the gents.

Three steps that Lina did not want to take.

Being the only woman present, her bathroom would be the safest providing the men did not have a moment of confusion over their gender.

Waiting, not wanting to be too obvious about the intended rendezvous, Lina casually slipped a hand to her neck, tugging loose a bobby pin and letting one side of her hair fall messily.

Head knocked into the palm of a hand, Lina soon plucked up the loose curls that fell on her shoulder, huffing quietly.

With the pretence of correcting her hair set, Lina dropped from the stool with a little wobble.

Marcus be damned, he could have mentioned their need to talk sooner.

One hand clamping down the loose section of hair while she walked, Lina cleared the first hurdle without much issue.

Either no one noticed, or no one cared that Lina was sidling away to the ladies.

Yet, knowing Elijah was present in the pub, Lina made one cursory glance before sneaking off through the door.

Sat with his back to the bathroom door, Lina checked the window beyond for potential reflection.

Seeing none, Lina pushed open the door.

As was expected, Marcus was waiting in the narrow corridor.

Taking Marcus by the hand, Lina led them into the ladies room she was forced to stand behind the door to allow it to close.

Room small and not designed to hold two people at once, Lina used the mirror to fix her hair. “Could this not have waited?”

Forced to speak in hushed tones to lessen the chance of being overheard, Lina lifted her arm further when Marcus reached under it, turning the tap on.

Using the water to cover their voices was smart, but could not be used for too long.

Should anyone, namely Elijah, be stood outside, there would come tough questions over the need to keep the water running, considering it was under rationing as well.

Able to just about view Marcus in the mirror reflection, there was still the lingering presence that something was on his mind.

“Out with it,” demanding that Marcus explain why they needed to talk in secret, in far too dangerous a place, Lina held the Bobby pin between her teeth.

Marcus obliged with a slow nod “There is a possibility that we may have a secondary problem,” he drawled, forcing Lina to come away from the sink to hear him better “I don’t have full details yet, but there is a chance that Germany has sent someone to look for me,”

Heart pulsing, Lina felt reluctantly sobered “Are you that important that they would?” She asked, a little astonished that Marcus could be of more risk to keep than he already was.

“Not that I know, but I can only imagine they want to tie any loose ends should the need arise,” Marcus elaborated with a crease in his brow.

For there to be loose ends, that would mean someone already knew Marcus was not who he was claiming to be.

“This contact, have you met with them properly?” Lina needed to know whether this person would need to be silenced and know who else she needed to take caution.

Leaning across once again Marcus shut off the tap, bringing his mouth to Lina’s ear “I am meeting them later today,” There was barely a breath in his words “He’s outside.”

Pulling the toilet chain, Marcus searched in a pocket, slapping a packet of mints in Lina’s hand.

There was no need to explain what they were for, Lina went ahead and opened them, putting two in her mouth.

Face scrunching at the strength, Lina coughed as she passed them back.

Standing against the wall, Marcus nodded to Lina that he was ready for her to open the door.

Opening the door, Lina didn’t look ahead, playing dumb to the man stood just outside she let the door fall back entirely, jolting when it slapped the wall.

Wiping the corner of her mouth while the mints dissolved on her tongue, Lina looked up.

“What are you doing?” Lina held the door frame, resting on it when Elijah came off the wall with a kick of his leg.

Bending at the waist, Elijah attempted a kiss which Lina deflected with both a hand and turning her face “I wouldn’t,” advising that it was not a good idea, Lina shuffled around him.

Moving around as Lina did, Elijah placed a hand to the wall, cutting off her exit before asking: “Why not?”

Fortune shining, Lina cupped her mouth when the door to the corridor sprung open and smacked Elijah in the back, forcing him to fall forward.

Chatter from the bar coming through, Lina rushed to catch Elijah as John stood behind, holding the door with cheeks puffed full of air.

Waving for John to leave the corridor, Lina kept the arm wrapped around Elijah, holding the back of his head and letting it rest on her shoulder.

“Are you ok?” Lina asked arm once more, waving when Marcus crept around the door of the ladies room, a hand catching the other door before it closed, he slipped out and back into the pub.

No longer at risk of being caught in a locked room with Marcus and able to relax, Lina focused on Elijah by taking his face in both hands, one stroking back the hair from his forehead.

Face scrunched in a slight wince, Elijah brushed over the back of his head “I’m fine,” he assured “Would be better if I could get a kiss,” it was a little strained, but he managed to smirk while coming in close.

Once more refusing the advance, Lina craned away “I told you no,” she uttered with a simple smile “I’ve been sick,” to make her point clear, she poked out her tongue to show the two mints.

Covering the absence with the fib, Lina closed her mouth and removed her hands from Elijah when he stepped back still holding his head.

“Shouldn’t have drunk so much then.” Elijah scolded with some seriousness, which he tried to soften by smiling after.

Brows creeping upwards, Lina bit back her want to rebuke and instead smiled sheepishly “I may have got a little carried away,” saying it like a shameful admission, it came with a little shrug.

Trying to play the part of a woman who could not handle her drink, Lina got a strong impression that Elijah would intervene should she attempt another.

All drunken giddiness stolen when Marcus told Lina the alarming news that there could be another spanner in the works, she was going to be left dully sober around a group of drunken men.

Damning her luck - or rather lack - Lina grumbled a bit when Elijah put an arm around her shoulders “Come on Doodlebug, water for you,” he teased, tickling her cheek.

Lina scanned around the room, pulling away from it, zeroing in on Marcus who merely smiled back from behind his glass.

“Smug...piece of...” carrying on in an under breath and incoherent grumble, Lina managed to sneak up her middle finger at him before Elijah steered her into a chair.

Pecking the top of Lina’s head, Elijah left to get her a glass of water as promised.

However, Elijah’s choice to show a slither of affection made the three men sit opposite Lina all lean in close, wicked, teasing grins lighting up their faces.

“Don’t!” Warning them not to say a word, Lina stole one of their drinks “Or you will be making camp in a gutter tonight,”

Eyebrows dancing in little suggestive rhythms, a wolf whistle tore from one of them.

Kicking one of them under the table, Lina pushed away from the water when Elijah set it beside her hand, leaning as far to the edge of the chair without falling as she could when he tried to take the stolen beer from her.

Gulping it down Lina slipped off the chair, slinking under Elijah’s grasping hand, before escaping to hide behind Paul who’d happened to stand at just the right time.

One arm held up as he twisted to look under it and at Lina, there was a few seconds of confusion on Paul’s face until Lina told him that Elijah was trying to make her drink water.

“Want me to pull rank?” Paul asked, meeting Elijah in a dead-on stare while passing Lina his drink.

Taking a sip, Lina shook her head just as John once more used her as a leaning post “I have a feeling she’s on her best behaviour because of this one,” jabbing a thumb at Elijah, it rallied the rest, each of them pointing out that she was not herself “So I think it’s time. Lads?”

They moved without order or spoken direction, but two of the Squadron unbolted the door, while four crept upon Elijah, tackling him.

Not expecting for it to go as smoothly as it did, Lina waved after Elijah when he was carried out, each man holding a limb.

The shouts of protest fading as they marched him either up or down the road, Elijah’s voice was overridden by a loud splash and wild jeering laughter.

Snickering into the pint, Lina stopped when Paul turned on her.

“I promised you nothing,” reminding Paul that she had not agreed to keep the men in line, Lina constrained her smile when Paul pinched the bridge of his nose.


	18. Who are you?

Wincing away from the light pouring through a window, Lina turned her head, tongue skating around the dryness of her mouth.

Groaning when a pulsing pain started behind both eyes, Lina knew it would be a losing battle to get back to sleep.

Pushing off from the mattress, Lina rested on all fours, waiting the wave of sickness to pass.

Blurry eyed, Lina sat back on her legs, rubbing them.

The bed's additional space was empty, Lina could tell by the imprint of the pillow that someone had shared with her, but her memory was blank.

Sighing deeply, Lina attempted to step off the bed, pausing when spotting a set of legs poking out from beneath.

Confused, Lina placed a hand to the floor, leaning down with much protest from her head to look under the bed.

Snoring softly and curled up on his side was Andy, and tucked under Andy's arm like some teddy bear, was a garden gnome.

Groaning, Lina swung down a leg, climbing over Andy's legs to get off the bed.

Standing barefoot on the floor, Lina checked rapidly and was pleased to see that she was dressed as she was the night before - underwear included.

Clapping both hands in silent prayer, Lina left the bedroom for the bathroom, locating a second man sprawled in the bathtub.

Two down, fifteen more men to find.

Splashing some water over her face, Lina took the towel with her as she walked down the hall, checking the other two rooms.

Five in one room, one in the other, Lina wondered how he'd missed the bed as he had it to himself.

Eight men discovered, there was nine more to account for.

Dreading what other garden ornaments or furniture would be found, Lina draped the towel over the bannister, hopping over another who was curled up with his head on the bottom step.

Padding down the hall, Lina peeked into the living room. Here there was some display of using their heads as three were sleeping in slumped sitting positions on the sofa, one on the armchair, and two more moved the coffee table to rest on the rug under it.

Only two left, Lina proceeded to the kitchen with a guess that the table was their resting places.

Needing to think about the step, Lina stumbled a little, knocking into a garden gate.

Hand to head, Lina looked over to the table.

Turned over bottles, half-filled glasses and an overflowing ashtray littered the table acting as a border around the man with his head down among it.

One man was missing - Marcus.

* * *

**-x-**

* * *

Marcus sipped the coffee while reading the paper, taking the corner table that allowed no hiding spots in the cafe.

Managing only a few hours sleep, Marcus stifled a yawn.

The night spent drinking Marcus observed their behaviour from a distance rather than becoming involved, it did not end when they left the Ferryman at five that morning.

By seven, half of them were asleep, and Marcus was forced to aid Lina up the stairs to her room.

Intending to leave Lina alone to sleep, Marcus was made to stay when she pulled him down on the bed.

Partially expecting Lina to attempt to initiate something, Marcus was caught off guard when she curled up against his side, laying her head on his chest.

"Morning."

Looking up when the man Marcus was there to meet took a seat without invitation, he folded up the paper.

"It's afternoon," Marcus corrected with a glance at his watch, the minute hand sliding onto the twelve to make it exactly midday.

Lounged back in the chair, Eric shrugged "What does it matter," brushing Marcus's comment off, his eyes narrowed "Tell me what happened,"

Direct and not wanting to make idle conversation, Eric drummed the table edge sharply, waiting for Marcus to explain how he came to be stuck there.

"I was forced to make a crash landing on the cliffs," editing the truth a little, Marcus near mimicked Eric's stance "I found a place to lay low for a few days but was soon discovered," aware that they were not alone in the cafe, Marcus remained in a low tone.

Believing it best not to completely omit the truth, Marcus met Eric's ambiguous eyes "They're trustworthy," he assured with a confident nod.

Eric nodded, moving his head as he did to observe the cafe. "We have come across some problems as of late with fickle loyalties," his hand stopped tapping the table to spread out in a vague gesture "So we have been following up with those who have conveniently ended up in enemy territory but not confirmed captured, or dead."

Understanding the need to eliminate any risk of information coming into the wrong hands, Marcus assured that his loyalty was firm with the Reich, and their Fuhrer.

"As it should be," Eric's tone cut like a knife. "Should I think otherwise, I will take necessary steps," promising that should Marcus show any sign that he intended to betray Germany that he would be dealt with accordingly. Eric did it with little change to his expression.

"I do need your help with something actually," Marcus broached the topic, splitting apart his hands "Do you know of a man going by the name of Vilem Dok?"

Eric's eyes snapped to Marcus "Why?"

Intrigued by the rapid response, Marcus adjusted a little "I am merely curious, he has been on the tongues of many, and accused of quite a heinous crime,"

Not willing to part with the detail that Marcus was asking for the man in question's sister, there was a slim hope that Eric was not aware of Lina yet.

Showing a reluctance to speak, Eric dragged his hand from the table. "You're not privy to that information," cutting dead a chance to extract information out of him it was followed by a proposition "But I may consider a change of mind should you be able to tell me who Bluebird is."

Bluebird.

Once more coming into the whispered conversation, Marcus's brow knitted.

The chance to ask Lina about the pet name Vilem used for her robbed the night before thanks to Elijah's unwelcome presence, Marcus would have to wait until her Squadron departed to ask her.

"I may actually have some insight to whom that could be," gripping his chin, Marcus stared off out the cafe window, overcome with curious doubt.

How much did Lina actually know?

"Would that be the woman you have been wandering around town with," Eric hummed with an arrogant tilt of his chin.

Levelling a stare on Eric a slow, calculated smile took hold of Marcus's mouth.

"It could be," Marcus mentioned with no definitive answer "I am yet to find that out,"

Seeing an opportunity for mutual assistance, Marcus toyed with the handle of his coffee mug.

"I have a tail on me, which is making my task of finding out certain things difficult," preparing to offer the identity of the bluebird, Marcus would only part with it for something in return "I assume you have good sources here, and I need some proof that this person is who I believe them to be,"

Eric showed interest. "You want a trade of information?" He asked for clarification, looking away again when Marcus nodded "I see no reason to refuse. What do you need?"

Two fingers pressed to Marcus's temple; he rested on them with a soft smirk "Find out who Elijah Jones really is."


	19. Piccadilly Circus

Standing on the platform and waving the men off Lina was left feeling deflated when they became dots in the distance.

Arm lowering in time with the sinking of her heart, Lina wished that she too was on the train, heading back to the airbase at Manston.

Left alone, Lina wiped away the rogue tear that slipped down her cheek; maybe being at home, her childhood home, was not for the better of her flaking mental health.

Coming to realise that she was drinking whenever thoughts turned to Vilem or their father, Lina knew she was at risk of more than a dishonourable discharge should she carry on as she was.

It helped, though, the drink. Pausing all memories and thinking when taken at the right quantity, Lina's mind would turn to other matters.

Walking back through the station, Lina paused at a board announcing London's prices, precisely on Piccadilly's cost.

Lina owned a flat in Piccadilly, a quaint, well-furnished place with charming decor.

A ticket was only a few shillings, and a halfpenny and Lina held more than enough in her handbag.

Tantalised, enthralled, even, by the idea of making the trip back home it was deemed in her mind as just another attempt to escape.

Running away would solve nothing, just like how the bottom of a bottle held no answers for Lina.

Feeble, and shamefully pathetic, Lina brushed off the want to run away, chasing it back by reminding herself the purpose of her return to Dover.

Albeit the purpose changed with news of Vilem's supposed deceptions, Lina still held other reasons to stay.

The enemy pilot by the name of Marcus Buckler was the most obvious. Never one to break a promise sworn, Lina silently accepted that she needed Marcus possibly more than he did her.

Their agreement at first, a simple arrangement, felt like it was becoming far more complicated as time passed.

Marcus deemed their sexual endeavours as a reward, given when he gave Lina something to work with.

To Lina, it was more than just that.

Attracted to the dangers that came with bedding, an enemy pilot, Lina thrived on it while being entirely aware that it would come to nothing.

Marcus would not stay once their agreement was fulfilled, and Lina could not stop him when the time came to let him free.

Lina prayed that things were wrapped up at the mercy of her fickle heart before she was too deep in over her head.

There too, was Elijah.

Lina was not so enamoured with Elijah, but she would not deny that she held a soft spot for him - a fact only made worse by Elijah holding all the red flags of a man she could not trust at that moment in time.

Not knowing made it feel no better or worse that Lina held no real inclination to whether Elijah's efforts were earnest or made for personal gain.

Exhausted in the tug of war between mind, heart, duty and need for the truth, Lina would have kicked herself in to touch if it were at all possible.

"I'm hearing peculiar stories about a kidnapped garden gnome, and a missing fence," Elijah came from a corner like a shadow, blocking Lina's path.

Mouth pinched Lina knew the mentioned items were sitting in her own back garden.

"What amusing stories you hear," sidestepping Elijah, a deep breath heaved her chest when he followed and kept Lina from getting by him.

There was no apology made for Elijah being dumped in what Lina later found out, was a trough of pigswill.

From what little Lina could recall of the night, she was hysterically laughing when they told her what happened.

Elijah appeared bitter; eyes usually warm narrowed in a show of contempt "What am I to you?" He asked sharply, feet fidgety, ready to move in any direction Lina would attempt to flee.

"A headache." Stating bluntly that Elijah was a bother, Lina feinted to the left, then darted for the right.

Triumphant in duping Elijah's efforts to keep Lina in place, she walked in a brisk stride for the hill that would lead her home.

"Can you stay still for just a minute," Elijah called after Lina catching up in a few short seconds, he caught her by the forearm "Talk to me, damn it."

Swung around with a little too much force Lina bumped against Elijah's chest.

"Unhand me!" Shouting to be let go, Lina broke out Elijah's hand, shoving his chest.

"What do you want to hear from my mouth?" It came out shrilly "That you were just a fuck,-" she shoved Elijah a second time "-, Or that I have feelings for you?!"

Lina staggered back a step; there was no headspace to deal with Elijah and his over-demanding needs.

A hand laid to her forehead Lina refused to embarrass herself any further than what was already done.

Forcing back the tears with a deep intake of air, Lina could barely bring herself to look at Elijah and his wounded visage.

Seeing Elijah's face made it worse.

Was it real or was Elijah a brilliant actor, able to slip on a mask to suit the occasion?

"I can't deal with you right now," head far too mixed up and confused Lina flinched away when Elijah tried to take her hand with a shouted, "Leave me alone!"

Making a hasty exit up the hill, Lina resisted throwing a punch at the other man who was taking up far too much of her energy as he walked down to meet her.

"You can fuck off an all!" Shouting at Marcus with just as much ire as she had Elijah, there was not even a second allowed to think about the drastic overreaction.

Lina needed time, and all of it spent alone.


	20. Heading Home

After the outburst, Marcus gave Lina and the home they were temporarily sharing, a wide berth until there was no longer an option but to return.

Knowing, with no real definite answer, that Elijah acted as the catalyst for the strange behaviour, Marcus avoided crossing paths with the man with a small diversion of his route.

Visiting a new drinking establishment with the hope that he would not return empty-handed, the results were pitiful at best.

Small whispers of things Marcus already knew and others that held no relevance to his investigations.

A day spent wasting coin and time and gaining no more ground towards the end goal.

It did though, allow Marcus to give Lina the space that she was in obvious need of.

Departing for home a little after eleven, the blackout was in full effect. Snuffing out all light to make it harder for the Luftwaffe to locate their targets, it was quite the hindrance both from the air and the ground.

Walking on memory and moonlight once the dim glowing lamplights faded from sight, Marcus was forced to keep his pace slow on reaching the secluded area that Lina lived.

Hill steep, and the cul-de-sac sparsely populated, it made the walk feel as though it took far longer than it actually was.

Ten minutes seemed to take an hour while in darkness.

Reviewing the days' events and the success of gaining an ally in foreign lands, Marcus knew that he would need to execute patience for the insight into who Elijah Jones indeed was.

Eric from rumour alone was efficient, and would not rush any of his moves, much like Marcus.

Breaking from the long hedgerows that acted as a curtain for the house's front, Marcus halted sharply at the gate.

Front door wide open there was no light from inside, but someone was moving.

Listening to the soft steps and sliding of drawers, Marcus's caution became more curious - the person was not attempting to hide their presence.

Coming to stand in the doorway, Marcus did not step inside but instead listened, paying closer attention to the sounds that told Marcus someone was searching for something.

"Power cut."

The voice came out the darkness disembodied, but it allowed Marcus insight to who was moving around the home.

Tension dissipated once it was confirmed that no manner of an ambush was going to unfold, Marcus came over the threshold, waiting for his eyes to adjust in the nonexistent light.

Pondering on how long Lina was in total darkness and why she was not using at least a match to see while searching, Marcus became far too aware of the house's creaks and groans.

As though the light took away the home's character, Marcus could tell that it was still as mournful sounding as when he first entered.

Weeks, only a few, had come and gone since Marcus landed himself in a position he never foresaw, and now, with nothing else to focus on, Marcus wondered how he allowed it to happen.

Being at the beck and call of an ever whimsical woman was not what Marcus held in mind for his life let alone in this war.

"Mind the step."

Letting out the careful reminder that the floor would drop away to another, Marcus slid his foot cautiously to find the step mentioned.

Time permitted to adjust, Marcus could see the furnishings' outlines in the kitchen and Lina.

Oddly, Lina was standing still, and somehow Marcus could tell that she was facing him.

"Why are you here?"

The question came off the cuff, catching Marcus unawares and rendering him speechless.

Was Lina still in a foul mood from before?

"I have acquired your papers, given you money, time and opportunity to leave,"

Better explaining the cause for the question, Lina moved a step, coming in closer.

"A wiser man would have taken advantage of that, and left. So why haven't you?"

The question was confounding, and not because of its context but that Marcus was being asked it.

Certainly, Marcus could say that he was a man of his word, but underlined in the question was an obvious point.

Marcus didn't need to stay. Time and more was available to him to depart without notice, and Lina would not have been able to act without revealing her deception.

Even Marcus's injuries were not severe enough that he was forced to be reliant on Lina for aid.

There was no manner of personal gain to be had; Marcus did not need to know the truth behind the death of a man he never met.

As pointed out to Marcus that afternoon by Eric, there was nothing about it that he needed to know as it did not concern or affect him.

Coming out of his thoughts, Marcus knew, with no visible indicators, that Lina's hands were reaching out, searching the darkness and the void of space between them.

Standing still, Marcus didn't move when Lina's fingertips brushed his face, flinching back a little before spreading out with more confidence that they found what they were seeking.

With care, Lina reached up to Marcus with much more confident purpose than her hands were at first and kissed him.

Unlike the other occasions, there was no lingering burn of whichever alcohol she consumed that day; there was no present lustful motivation.

Bringing Lina in close, Marcus noticed how well she fitted against him; he would even go so far to say that it felt natural, to hold her as he was.

"You can leave."

Lina placed a final pecking kiss on Marcus.

"I won't stop you."

Presenting Marcus with not only the chance but the choice to go with no lingering doubts or resentment.

An opportunity that Marcus would not be gifted again.

Without a word, Marcus stepped away from Lina and left the room.


	21. Arethusa

Treading the jetty the Arethusa was imposing, her grandiose unparalleled by the smaller, less significant boats that shared the harbour.

Painted in standard battleship grey the Arethusa's gangplank was dropped and ready on the wooden jetty, open and inviting with her decks unmanned.

The crew were on land, filling the Porter Arms to a spilling point and each man, with a healthy bribe of the barkeep, was having a little more than beer to fill their guts.

Drugging an entire crew would have Lina facing more than a Court Marshalling - she could be shot.

Hiding under the hood of her coat as the clouds dribbled rain lackadaisical, Lina checked the surround.

Beyond the whistle of the wind and the soft patter of the showering rain, it was silent as the grave.

Aware that being caught aboard would come with some hassle, Lina hoped that - memory permitted - she would not be there long enough to be discovered.

Only once did Lina set foot on the Arethusa when Vilem captained it.

They spent the short time allowed within the cabin assigned Vilem for his position, speaking only briefly on what was to come before saying their goodbyes.

It was the last good memory Lina held of Vilem, and she kept it dearly.

Absent of worry or concern, Vilem was entirely himself and not the shadow, meek and haunted man that she last saw.

Needing to know what happened in those months between drew Lina to the Arethusa in some vain hope that an answer would be found.

Nobody knew Vilem in the way that Lina did, and if he had secrets to keep, Lina knew how to find them.

Travelling across the top deck, Lina stayed in the shadows that fell wanting to keep from being spotted by any persons from another ship or upon the dock; she paused at the first door.

It was unlocked and open.

Stopping dead in her tracks Lina knew well that the door should have been closed, but it was ajar, just a small crack of space, and from it came a flickering light.

Someone was inside, Lina could tell the difference between the rustle of papers and the whistling of the wind.

Likewise to Lina's thinking, someone else saw the benefit in checking Vilem's cabin.

Alone and no one there to either act as back up or witness, Lina considered a confrontation.

However, should the person inside be desperate enough not to be uncovered, there were no limits to what they would do to avoid it.

Armed with only a small pistol, Lina could hope to catch them unawares and gain the upper hand should she make her moves wisely.

Peering up and down the top deck, Lina could find no windows that would allow a sneak peek inside, the portholes were located on the other side and gave the office a pleasant sea view.

Slipping a hand around the trigger guard of the small handgun, Lina strained a little to hear what was happening inside the cabin.

There were no voices to suggest there was more than one person, and the shuffle of paper and sliding of drawers had stopped.

It led Lina to conclude one of two things.

Either they found something of interest, or they had become aware of Lina's presence.

Hoping for the latter was not an option, Lina needed to decide how to proceed, and soon.

The harbour watchmen would change shifts at midnight precisely, and a new shift meant that someone would be checking the jetty and the ships for anything out of place - and Lina was precisely that.

Heart thudding Lina swallowed deeply and steadied her resolve; there would be no second chances to do this; it had to be done now.

Coming off the wall, Lina drew out the pistol and reached for the door.

Fingers barely brushing the cold metal it swung open with force, making Lina stumble back towards the wall, an extended foot kept it from bouncing off her face.

In rushed footsteps, the blur of a man sped by Lina without taking notice of her frightened and stiff behind the door.

Moving in such an apparent hurry, he took no care in his escape, his footsteps clattering loudly down the gangplank.

Making far too much noise Lina's fears for someone hearing them became a reality when a man -undoubtedly a guard - shouted for the person to stop.

An order that was answered by two cleanly fired gunshots.

Chest caught in a vacuum, Lina's eyes came under strain with how widely they opened.

This was not good.

Lina's efforts to get in Vilem's office was thwarted and not by any action she took.

Gunshots would without a doubt draw the guardsmen and more out to the Arethusa and Lina could not risk capture, not when she was armed, they would assume her the shooter.

Pushing away from the door, Lina ran the gangplank, hurrying as the man before had, to escape.

Lina could already see the faint glow of a torchlight searching in the dark coming up from the port's offices hitting the jetty.

Stepping forward and hoping to flee down the jetty to where it fell away to a steep alley that would take Lina up to the cliff tops, she stopped.

Wet and gargling a small plea for help froze her in place.

The guard was asking Lina to help him.

Shakily Lina's fingers pinched in the palms of her hands, breaking her out of the dizzying spell of wanting to help the man.

This one time, Lina could not spare her efforts to help someone in need; there was too much at stake should she be caught.

Torch lights creeping closer, Lina broke out once more in flee, dashing around stacked boxes and barrels covered in fish netting, she didn't stop until the slope was in sight.

Conflicted at leaving the man potentially to his death, and Lina's certainty that had she been found with the man that her arrest would be immediate, she balanced the two against the weight of seeking the answer of what took Vilem's life prematurely.

Finding out what led Vilem to commit to his own death was paramount over anything else, even if it forced Lina to do things she did not want to do.

Climbing the slope with vigour, driven by the adrenaline rush, Lina close to collapse with her short breath on reaching the top.

Hiking hills in heels was no easy feat.

By no stretch was Lina unfit, but it took the breath out her lungs enough that she was left in a panting stagger, wobbling across the grass in a struggle for air.

Lina paused when the howling of a hound came up the cliff face.

Tracking dogs out far sooner than expected, Lina could have laughed, if it were not for the lacking air in her lungs.

Chest tight and side in the pinch of a stitch, there was only some relief in that Lina knew that she needed to gain back her vigour.

The cliff tops were a vast open space with nowhere to hide, and if she were seen running, it would only be a cause for suspicion.

Forced into a walk, Lina was guided only by the silhouettes of distant houses, the sky overcast and it hid both moon and stars from view.

The walk would not take long - providing the hounds, and their keepers did not catch up - but it would be slow.

Able to circumnavigate the dark over the lush spread of green of her childhood home, Lina shivered against the chill of the wind and rain.

Hood coming down while fleeing let Lina's hair become wet in the misleading drizzle.

Soaked down to her undergarments, each step was jostled as her last good pair of hosiery slipped on the leather insteps of her heels.

Much care taken not to fall when the ground became boggy, Lina almost cried relief when it became solid and sturdy concrete underfoot.

The stitch in her side, making each breath uncomfortable, Lina let it act as a reminder that she escaped unscathed and unseen.

Bloodhounds apparently unable to catch Lina's scent, they did not appear on the cliffs and allowed her to slip through a net that came far too close for comfort.

Though it did mean that Lina was robbed of the chance to see what could have been found in Vilem's office.

There was also the man who fled from it and the possibility that he came across something that could either clear Vilem's name or prove his guilt.

Arms folded and hands firmly planted in the pits of her arms; Lina brought her chin down to her chest, passing under the dimmed lights of the lampposts.

Coming in from the top end of the town, there was still a great distance to cross before Lina could peel off the rain-drenched clothes.

Lina thought better of taking shortcuts through the alleys with the hour it was and no place open to duck inside for a few seconds warmth.

They were darker than usual with the countrywide blackouts, and Lina had left her torch back at home.

Wanting to be carrying as little as possible, Lina only now found a blunder in that decision.

It made seeing more than a few paces hard with the rain, without the street lights, her vision was further restricted.

Without company for the walk home, it made it seem that much longer and knowing as well that the house would be empty upon return, Lina was in no rush to reach it.

After the outburst at Elijah by the station two weeks prior, Lina decided to release Marcus from their agreement.

With Elijah's presence, troublesome and persistent, attempting to make progress felt hindered.

Pressured by Elijah's dogged pursuit and needing to keep liaising with Marcus simultaneously, Lina came to one final decision.

One or both needed to go.

Which left Marcus as the only feasible option.

It cost Lina the most significant advantage she had, but something needed to give.

And if Elijah was as Marcus suggested, then the chance that a few harsh words would have chased him off, was unlikely.

With only one person to focus on, Lina some mental respite to get things to proceed better.

So far, Lina managed to ascertain that Vilem kept talking about someone who went by the moniker 'bluebird'.

A nickname Vilem used for Lina since they were kids let her better comprehend why she came under the spotlight.

Yet, Vilem had said nothing directly to Lina that ever let her doubt his loyalty.

While making the rounds that Marcus had previously gathered a little more from the men who sailed with Vilem, Lina noticed.

Elijah was nowhere to be seen and had not been since Lina saw Marcus off at the train station.

First thinking that it was from their last encounter, Lina waited a few days, expecting Elijah to appear as he always did - out of nowhere.

After a week without hearing 'Doodlebug' trickling into an ear, Lina was unsure whether to be relieved or disappointed.

Nonetheless, Lina still executed caution with whatever she did and why a hand fell to her pocket when the second set of steps slapped the pavement.

Maintaining the same pace, Lina quickly looked left and right, searching for a place to escape should she need too.

Not wanting to appear too fretful or even show that she was aware of the person behind - as it could well be innocent- Lina stepped to the side when their pace increased.

A woman slipped by, politely thanking Lina for moving out the way, Lina stopped, watching the woman fade from view.

Thinking herself a foolish woman for becoming so easily spooked, Lina started to laugh - until heat pressed against her back.

Hand coming firm over Lina's mouth another held her arm, dragging her back into an alley she stupidly had stopped in the mouth of.

Pinned to the person, their hand reached Lina's wrist in her pocket before she could retrieve it.

Picking up a leg Lina pressed the heel of her shoe firmly to the person's shin, scraping it down to the foot.

It forced a pain-filled gasp from their mouth but increased the pressure of their grip on her wrist.

Throwing out the arm they held, Lina used the momentum to further dislodge their footing before using her body to shove them up against the wall.

An expulsion of hot breath tickling the back of Lina's neck, she knew that their breath was knocked from their chest, creating slack on their hold.

Taking no chances, Lina threw back an elbow, wrist coming free Lina dived out the alley.

Heels kicked off Lina for the first time found benefit in Dover being nothing but hills.

The downward slope giving Lina momentum and running barefooted she put distance between her and the man.

Half-blind from the rain, Lina didn't slow when turning a street corner.

Not until she collided with something firm and warm.

Arms scattering to break out the hands that clasped them Lina struggled less when they began talking.

Again short of breath Lina's chest heaved, reaching out to touch their face, seeking assurance that her recognition of their voice was not from the need to hear it at that moment.

He stood still, letting Lina touch the contours of his face, checking that it was who she thought it was, she traced his mouth, the tips of her fingers tickled as she did.

There was no doubt in Lina's mind; she knew those lips well.

"Satisfied," He asked "Doodlebug?"

Curling back her fingers Lina again wanted to laugh but was too short of breath to do so.

In suspense and jittery state from the assault, Lina did something she had never before; she cried in front of a man without restraint.

Moving close to his chest that she stood on his shoes, Lina hid her face beneath his chin with a whisper: "Where were you?"


	22. Secrets & Saints

In little towns, gossip spread fast. Passed in whispers from mouth to ear, person to person.

Each regaling made a little saucier, seedier and devoid of truth until all that was left was a shameful smear against a person.

Accustomed to rumours and facing many attempts to besmirch her name, the newest efforts were ones Lina never had to do battle with.

Accused already of bigamy some weeks before, Lina waited for those tales to die down, neither acknowledging nor denying them.

The newest addition that had the local housewife's shunning Lina and even one particular woman warning Lina to stay away from her husband was a matter not so simply ignored.

"...little tart was with Martha's hubby last night, flashing her legs..."

Teacup balanced delicately between her fingers, Lina continued to listen to the women talk, their voices becoming louder, wanting it known that they were talking about Lina.

Eyes fixed and staring at the space opposite Lina placed down the teacup intentionally sharp.

"If you pair of old battle axes had half a mind, let alone a sense of pride-," folding over a hand Lina placed her chin on the wrist, letting her fingers flutter "-, you would know that Martha's husband is still in prison for larceny."

One neatly pencilled eyebrow arched a sly slip of a smile flicked up one corner of her mouth.

"Let us not forget either, that your darling men turned coward and went into hiding when the conscription started," taking the hand out from beneath her chin, Lina flicked it in an elegant wave of dismissal when one of the women made to snipe back "I am bored of you, take your jaded faces elsewhere,"

Contrite by the brushing off the two women made further insults as they bustled away from their table - their afternoon teas left to waste.

Keeping face the entire time Lina sighed into a slump, sitting away from the table, she turned an eye on her new shoes.

Legs crossed Lina flicked one heel on and off, sinking into the memory of the night that sparked the most alarming rumour.

The rumour itself was not the part that held Lina's throat in an icy pinch of fear's hand, but the intention behind it.

Ditching her shoes to flee the man who attacked Lina and dragged her into the alley, it was the story the man told of why his wife found him out of breath and with a pair of ladies shoes.

Claiming that he shared an illicit affair in the alley with Lina it sent a shudder down her spine.

Instead, the man would be thought an adulterer than one who would force himself upon a woman; it was made all the more unsettling that he knew that it was Lina that he grabbed that night.

It left Lina wary for the first time in her life to be alone at nighttime.

Thankful that nothing came of the man's effort, Lina knew that it could have been an entirely different situation if it were not for her training.

Shivering when a chill came in with the cafe door opening, the soft tinkle of the bell made Lina bring up her head, and her heart slammed into her ribs.

Two men in smart black uniforms stood at the small counter talking with the lady behind it, the white sashes on their arms, marking them as military police members.

Returning to sipping the tea, Lina did not look directly at them but kept them in the corner of one eye.

Stories of what happened at the Porter Arms to the Arethusa crew circled as a mystery among the townsfolk, and no doubt would become part of its folklore in years to come.

Coercing the barkeep to keep the men drinking by placing money behind the bar to cover their thirsty appetites, Lina failed to mention the substantial sleeping agent she slipped into the kegs earlier in the evening.

Talking with the men, some vaguely remembered that Lina was the younger sister of their previous captain, and so when she told them to drink until the tab she paid was up, they heartily took her goodwill at face value.

Wanting to ensure that they would not return too soon to the Arethusa, the plan was almost flawless until it went awry.

A member of the home guard was dead. Shot in the line of duty by a person or persons unknown, it sent the town into a frenzy of conspiracies and pointed fingers.

Slowly the empty chair at Lina's table was dragged back, another taken from a table over. The two members of the military police sat down without invitation.

"Lina Mountbatten," one spoke - the darker haired of the two - with an air of arrogance "Or would you prefer I address you as your grace?" He smirked, obviously well aware of her title and showing that it was not about to help Lina.

Lowering the teacup to the table, Lina glanced between the two men; they were in their late thirties, clean-shaven and a bulbous nose spotted the blonde man.

"Proper etiquette dictates you address me as Your Highness," she smiled sweetly, "I am a Princess by birth, not a Duchess." Head held in a soft tilt, Lina waited patiently for them to announce the purpose of their presence.

The dark-haired man's mouth turned down at the corners "Save the etiquette lessons for someone who cares about your title," he answered sharply "Where were you between the hours of eleven and midnight last night?"

Sitting straight Lina felt a small kick of excitement to engage the officer "Well," she started "Should rumour be believed, I was being fucked stupid in an alley at that time,"

Placing a finger to her cheek, the others laid beneath her chin, a playful smile came to life when the bulbous-nosed officer choked.

Though Lina wished it were not so, the rumour doing the rounds around town, played into her favour to some degree.

Slapping the back of his partner, the dark-haired officer's eyes narrowed "I have heard something of the sort," he crowed back "But tell me, was it that good that you left behind your shoes?"

The man was not dim, and he paid a little too close attention when Lina's smile slipped.

"You're a smart man, so let us skip this little volley of wits," Lina dropped the hand from her face. "I was in an alley. Though the correct term would be dragged rather than willingly entering it," irritated or agitated, Lina was not sure, but her fingertips clawed the table.

The officers' demeanour did not change, but the tone of his questions softened "Did you want to file a report?"

Lina shook her head "There was no success on his part," she lowered her brow into a frown "I managed to get away," talking about it was made a little easier by the fact that it was unsuccessful "I don't imagine that you would know, but running in heels is not an easy task,"

Elaborating without actually saying it, Lina hoped the man would leave the matter alone.

Tenting his fingers the officer hummed agreement "Can't say I have tried," pressing the fingers back to his lips with eyes closed like he was in thought, they sprung open with his next question "Why did you pay for the drinks of the Arethusa's crew?"

There it finally was, the purpose for their presence.

"My brother was their captain, I wanted to thank them and take their minds off what forced them to be here," Lina couldn't help the tightness when speaking the lie.

Never once wanting to use Vilem as a shield for her actions, Lina was torn by the fact that she needed to.

"Captain Vilem Dok, committed suicide, correct?" The bulbous-nosed officer asked "Took the cowards way out," it came cruelly from his foul mouth.

"You dare smear his name in my presence again," Lina's tongue became a razor's edge "I will rip out your slandering tongue."

Eyes sharpened and boring holes in the man, Lina's chest cinched angrily, the grip on the handle of the teacup tightened, snapping it.

Grateful that the cup was upon the table, the delicate China felt far too flimsy as Lina threw down the broken handle.

"We mean no disrespect," the dark-haired officer slapped the other around the back of the head with a full swing of the arm, knocking him into the table "I can see that it is an upsetting topic for you to discuss,"

Table jarred, the bulbous-nosed officer grumbled complaint but fell silent when the other clicked his fingers, sending him away from their table.

Waiting until it was only the two of them seated, the officer returned a level stare on Lina.

"Listen, I did not come here to cause you anymore upset, but your well-intentioned gesture was ill-timed," his hands spread wide, a slight shrug coming along with the movement "Someone managed to spike the beer of your brother's crew, and you happened to be the only civilian who entered that night,"

Laying out the facts that pointed to the crime at Lina, there was an obvious flaw in their thinking, and it was in the small detail of needing access to the cellar of the pub.

"Seeing how deeply you cared for your brother, I find it hard to consider that you would harm those who held him in high regard," the officer held the back of the chair as he stood.

"So please, forgive my companion, and-," he dropped to a whisper "-, should you wish to make a formal complaint about last night, I personally assure that it will be handled with total discretion."

Catching the sadistic mirthfulness in the man's eye while knowing what methods were used indiscretion by the military police, Lina held the man's gaze.

"You never mentioned your name," Lina realised, chastising herself for speaking too freely.

Arm sweeping across the waist the officer bent to pick up Lina's hand, kissing the back of it while retaining eye contact.

"Thomas Becket, your highness," he spoke coyly "Saint by name, not by nature,"

Unable to keep from laughing at the humorous description, Lina's mood lightened a little.

"Thank you for the advanced warning, Saint Thomas," playful in tone, Lina took away her hand "But I need no one to defend my honour,"

Gently releasing the hand he held, Thomas smiled "Be sure to let me know if you have a change of mind," he bowed once more "It's been a pleasure, and I bid you a good day,"

Picking up on the definite mocking in the over-formal direction Thomas took to bid farewell, Lina watched his departure with an under breath "Twat."

Left alone once more Lina viewed the broken cup handle with discontent, fingers pressed to her forehead in a slither of stress they sprung away when a hand fell on the back of her chair.

"I thought we agreed to no secrets?" Marcus's whisper tickled her ear "Doodlebug."

Entirely unaware of when Marcus arrived, it was clearly long enough that he overheard the talk with the military police.

"I told you to stop calling me that," turning in the chair to meet Marcus's kiss when he leant down for it, Lina sighed a little when he pulled back, dropping into a crouch beside her chair.

The night before, when Lina ran straight into Marcus, there had been a heightened state of confusion.

Letting Marcus go it left Lina heavy-hearted how easily he had the following afternoon.

No attempt made to stay, Lina convinced herself that it was okay and did not bother her.

That was until Marcus appeared at just the right moment the previous night, and the second word he spoke to her was a sarcastically uttered 'Doodlebug.' that left her in a second of doubt over who it was.

Sweeping a hand through Marcus's hair to settle the windswept strands, Lina knew that he wanted to speak with her; it was evident in the intense focus of his gaze.

Far too shaken when they were reunited to hold a conversation, Marcus assured Lina that they would speak after he ran a few errands.

Hoping it would explain why Marcus left Lina knew that he wanted them to go and so left the chair, sliding her arms into her coat when Marcus held it up.

Walking arm in arm Lina listened as Marcus made light conversation for their walk home.


	23. Taking Charge

Chin brushing a shoulder, Lina took her eyes off the crumpled bedsheets when Marcus paced away from the bed.

“So-,” Lina plucked up a page from the file Marcus tossed on the bed “-, you want me to continue my little dalliances with him?” Tongue poked into her cheek; it failed to disguise the smile when Marcus turned.

Fingers no longer in bandage or splint, he flexed them back and forth slowly “For now,“ he showed lacking enthusiasm “Yes.” Brow creased, he faced away again.

Lina, supported by the arm on the bed, dropped the paper sheet among the rest, sliding them out to find one to read.

Elijah’s file was extensive and brimming with details that surely would have gone amiss with little notice.

“He’s from Lincolnshire? Interesting.” It made some of Elijah’s speech patterns make sense, his dialect often switching between southern and northern colloquialisms.

Seeing it laid out in black ink on white pages, Lina better understood why Marcus disliked her acquaintance with Elijah.

Part of the war cabinets central intelligence, Elijah was as they feared, a spy.

“Only problem being,” Lina gathered the pages back together “I haven’t seen him since you left.”

Marcus finally had stopped pacing around the room and was perched against the dresser, staring at the floor in deep concentration over something.

Leaving Marcus to the thoughts that were straining his mind enough to hold his tongue, Lina considered getting dressed again.

Unlike times before where the most either undressed was from the waist down, they had shed their clothes entirely.

Seeing each other in the flesh made it a whole new experience, as did use the bed rather than the kitchen table or chair.

Far more intimate, Lina could speak with clarity -but only to herself- that what she worried over, was with good reason.

Lina liked Marcus a whole lot more than she should.

“That’s because you were not the one he was tailing,” Marcus looked across to Lina, stroking a thumb beneath his lip “It was me.”

Detailing who Elijah’s person of interest actually was, Marcus stepped off the dresser and approached the bed.

Stunned at the snippet Lina pushed up on her elbows, examining Marcus closely when he returned to kneel on the bed.

Legs split apart and placed either side of Marcus’s, a shuddering breath rippled from Lina when he took a firm hold on her waist, lifting her hips to meet with him.

“Hinlegen,” Marcus requested, or instead demanded that Lina lay down.

Amused at his efforts to be the one in charge this time, Lina allowed it and relaxed her arms, crossing them above her head.

Marcus kept a hold on Lina’s hips, spreading apart his thighs a little more to better fit her between them before using his body to lift her from the bed.

Curled over to let their mouths meet, Marcus held the underside of her thighs, a single thrust knocking the breath out her lungs, Lina brought down a hand to cup Marcus’s face when a breathless laugh fled her mouth.

Lina didn’t mind it being a little rough; she had asked Marcus enough times for him to be.

“Do what you have to,” Marcus slowed down, throwing Lina out a little by his use of English instead of their usual heated conversations in German “Just don’t sleep with him again.”


	24. To have or to keep?

The air raid sirens fell silent, overtaken in clamour by the bombs falling, the raid lasted no more than an hour.

Emerging a little sooner than the all-clear signal arrived, Lina flicked away the dust, cobwebs and soot.

Caught unawares when the signal raised warning of the incoming enemy planes it was decided they were too far from a shelter.

So it was, per government advice, either find somewhere of sturdy structure or lay face down with hands over the head.

Finding the coal cellar a second before the shrill whistle of the first plummeting bomb, they dived inside with little regard for anything else.

The cellar at some point, becoming flooded, they stood waist-deep in stagnated water.

Nose wrinkled to the less than delicate perfume of the water it was intermingled with the essence of fire smoke that signalled the bombed zone.

The immediate surrounding untouched was the wild upward plumes of grey and black, fires fanned by the treacherous presence of wind.

Cupping a hand over her eyes to gain a better idea at what road had fallen victim this time, Lina let them fall once satisfied that it was not her home that had been shelled.

Crunching shoes on the path reminding Lina that she was not alone, a turn led her to peer at Elijah while he tried to shake some of the water from his trousers.

A full three weeks had come and gone since they last saw one another up until the moment they crossed paths, mere seconds before the sirens screeched the warning of an incoming raid.

“Long time no see, stranger.” Lina was not confident about whether they were on talking terms.

While down in the coal cellar, it was easy to brush off that they did not speak, not when they were mentally preparing for their potential demise.

Above ground again, there was a chance to determine whether all hope was lost on whatever they had previously.

With Marcus detailing that it was not Lina that Elijah was there to keep an eye on, it put their interactions under fresh light; yet still did not erase the doubt.

Elijah could well be using Lina as an extension to become close enough to figure Marcus out.

After all, Elijah confirmed - or instead lied - to Lina that the pilot of the Bf-109 that crashed on the cliffs was dead.

After explaining the day that Lina first came across Elijah and the subsequent check made to Marcus’s plane, they reached the same conclusion.

Elijah knew all along that Marcus was alive and at large somewhere in Dover.

Which made Marcus’s grand entrance that afternoon on her stairs, a stupendous blunder on his part.

There then was the factor that Marcus and Lina claimed Vilem to be their mutual ground of how they knew one another.

Left in a tricky predicament as Lina and Marcus inadvertently placed Vilem in even more of a damning light, they were forced to go back to the drawing board on how best to continue.

To start with, Marcus left Lina’s home and rented a room above the Mayflower Tavern on the outskirts of the town, and before he left, he advised Lina to do what she had to, but not to sleep with Elijah.

The odd little sentence puzzled Lina intensely over whether it was a show of jealousy from Marcus or wanted Lina to be mindful of her emotions.

Never one to lead by her heart, Lina found the little tidbit of advice amusing as much as it was perplexing.

Elijah’s head came up “Oh? Am I no longer a headache?” He recalled the last thing Lina called him casually, a lazy smile on his mouth.

Feigning a wince, Lina held wide both arms “I got a little emotional,” defending the small outburst, Lina shrugged “I got a bit defensive too, and for that, I am sorry.”

Too much going on all at once Lina handled the matter poorly to alleviate the pressures laid on her shoulders, and Marcus and Elijah were the only two weights that Lina could be rid of at that time.

Showing that he was considering whether to take Lina’s apology by stroking the point of his chin, Elijah’s body lost some of its tension in a single, deep breath.

“I won’t lie, you wounded me a little the last we spoke,” Elijah placed his weight on one side, arms crossed he watched the smoke that spiralled from a street not far from them.

“I guess I came across too strong, but,-“ looking back at Lina with a sincere smile, Elijah soon dropped to focus on his algae coated boot “,-I wanted to make sure I at least got more than a foot in the door before either of us were placed back on active duty.”

Mouth under deep strain not to show how coy a smile Lina wore honestly was a slight nod, more for effect than purpose, considered Elijah’s point before disputing them.

“You already got more than a foot in the door, Elijah,” Ruefully reminding Elijah that there was not one, but, two separate occasions where they were in more than friendly conversation, Lina bent down to peel her damp skirt off her legs. “Or have you forgotten that part?”

Elijah shifted suddenly, keenly focusing on Lina as she managed to keep him in sight.

“I can’t say I recall, Doodlebug,” scratching his chin as though in thought, he shrugged with great exaggeration “My memory is not that good.”

Laughing, very shortly, at having her line turned back against herself, an arm was thrown upwards in a grand gesture “Well I will be damned, we both have the same problem,” she exclaimed once comfortable that the dress was no longer a second skin on her legs.

Elijah was a man who took any opportunity that arose. A fact both learned and reminded of when Lina’s face became warm in the cusp of Elijah’s palms.

Dangling the prospect to remind one another of their bold and public acts, Elijah jumped at the chance.

“I think not,” Lina pushed a finger to Elijah’s chest, it was firm, the thudding of his heart strong enough to be picked up “I need a change of clothes, not to lose them,”

Forgetting, apparently, that they had spent an hour waded waist-deep in rotting water, Elijah inspected their clothes head to toe in a single movement.

Smile no longer like a wolf in heat, but mischievous, Elijah pecked Lina lightly before making a suggestion.

“My place is closer than yours,” flicking his eyes in a generalised direction, Elijah ran a thumb over Lina’s cheek “I’m sure something of mine will fit you while our clothes dry,”

Offering a change of clothes and a place to wash the ones that Lina was wearing, she swayed a little between taking the offer or not.

There was no harm in spending time with Elijah, and the length that would be needed to await the drying of her clothes would give Lina time to better find out Elijah’s motivations.

“No funny business,” Lina flicked the tip of Elijah’s nose “Ok?”

Though Lina felt strongly for Marcus and gained an unspoken assurance that it was returned, Lina was faced with quite a dilemma when it came between the two men.

With no possible way to know the outcome of the war that was still in its infancy, Lina knew that Marcus could not stay forever.

Part of Lina wanted for it to be possible, but the reality was sadly the opposite.

So it left Lina wondering, was it better to have what she could keep, or keep what she could never have?


	25. Wiser fools

Elijah's flat was small but straightforward.

Living, dining and kitchen all one room, there were only two doors to be seen other than the front.

Sitting on the sofa in a shirt far too big for a person, let alone a woman of Lina's size, the cuffs sat over both hands, and a shoulder kept slipping down.

To its saving grace, the shirt did provide some modesty in that it hung down to mid-thigh, which meant that providing Lina did not bend, she was concealed.

Legs stretched out on the sofa Lina watched the flames dance in the fireplace, their clothes washed and hung to dry over the fireguard, it would be some time until they could be worn again.

"Here," Elijah lowered a mug of coffee over the sofa, another in his hand, Lina took it with small thanks, lifting her legs when Elijah sat down.

With no hosiery left, Lina was at least pleased that she had shaved her legs that morning before leaving home when Elijah allowed her to stretch them over his lap and laid a hand on one.

Nestling the coffee in both hands Lina took a slow, thoughtful sip, pausing when Elijah asked a question.

"Why did you choose to come back here?" Presenting the question in the sense of general interest, Elijah turned his head towards Lina.

In essence, the question was simple; nothing in particular about it would flag up as strange to ask by any reasonable acquaintance.

Coming from Elijah, a man Lina knew to be a government spy who was on Marcus's heels, it became more than just a question.

Indirectly it could act as a form of interrogation in the guise of casual conversation.

"Simple," Lina paused to take a little more of the coffee, the beans were fresh, no doubt another black market find "My cousin wants to take the seat that is mine as a birthright, and I am purposely difficult about it,"

The house of Mountbatten lost not two, but five heirs in quick succession.

Lina's Uncle, his two sons, Lina's father and then brother, Vilem.

By dictation of order, Lina was to become the next head of the house and take on the additional titles the seat granted.

Except, as always with power, it never came quickly and without risk of usurping.

So when Lina's intolerable cousin Charles piped up that it should be him, and not Lina who took over, it should have boiled down to a specific factor.

Lina was a naturalised citizen of Britain where Charles was not.

Their house divided, they were left with only one option, and that was to take it up with their other cousins in the House of Windsor.

"I had to take an audience with some rather important figures, and we agreed that once the war was over and if I was still breathing, I would have to leave the service to assume my role,"

Elaborating but also keeping some details to herself, Lina smiled when Elijah spluttered into his coffee.

There was no possible way that Elijah did not know that Lina was not joking when she told him of her last name - not unless the central intelligence kept it from him.

Possibly that specific details were kept a little more hushed than others, Lina waited for Elijah to finish choking.

"Assume your role?" Elijah wheezed, wiping his mouth with the back of a hand.

The finer details of the matter were not precisely to Lina's liking. "I have to marry, and they have kindly assigned me a fiancé, cause apparently, I wouldn't know how to do that," mumbling bitterly over the choice of man that Lina was supposed to wed, she took an almost angry gulp of the coffee. "Then I have two years to produce an heir if not, my cousin takes my place."

The politics of power, titles and inheritance of seats were intricate, deadly, and never dull.

"You're engaged?" Elijah queried, hiding his dissatisfaction at the news behind a lofty grin.

Head shaking Lina swept a hand around her back, bringing her hair over a shoulder, leaning over to place the mug of coffee on the floor.

"Not entirely," she sighed in some frustration, the whole matter was a ludicrous and cruel ordeal that could be spared if Lina merely stepped down and gave in to her cousin's tantrums.

Pride, however, refused to budge on the matter.

"I can refuse the proposal, but that would leave me facing marriage to Lord Wootton of Bath's son, and he is certainly not an option I want to take," shuddering at the thought, Lina combed out her hair, before starting to plait it.

"I suspect they have done it in the belief I would turn around and run a mile in the other direction," Lina knew what she said to be accurate, she never once followed the rules dictated by her position even as a child "But I will make my darling cousin suffer in wait for as long as I can,"

Beaming a conniving smile, more so to herself, Lina looked up once the plait in her was finished "Were you worried that there was another man to contend with?"

After the debacle of Marcus announcing that Lina was his wife, Elijah backed down a little from his claim that a ring on her finger would not stop his efforts.

Though it was said before Elijah came to suspect that Marcus was not who he claimed to be.

Elijah looked taken back a little, head tilted in a show of curiosity "Do I have another to contend with?" He returned the question while stretching forward and putting his mug down on the small coffee table "Unless I was mistaken, I thought I was the only one you had on the go."

Tone sharp, and showing dislike for the ambiguous question Lina teased Elijah with, he slapped a hand over the cigarette packet on the table.

"I know we are not anything particularly official," Elijah grumbled around the butt of a cigarette, sending it wobbling up and down as he fought with the box of matches to light one.

"But I would at least have thought I was the only one you let get between your thighs," finally, the match struck, and Elijah puffed deeply "Or am I misreading this thing we have Doodlebug?"

Struck a little dumb by Elijah's angry tangent all Lina managed was to stare back at him with a slightly open mouth.

Here was where Lina's main problem lied.

How much of what Elijah said and did was for his own purpose?

And what was a falsehood to better ensure her trust in him?

Should Lina fall fool to Elijah's bait, she would close the distance and time needed to confirm Marcus's identity.

A risk that could not be allowed at any cost.

"How about you drop your falsities and tell me what it is that you want?" Lina was daring, always had been, but this was going to be the riskiest gamble in her entire life "You told me to trust you, and I will when you tell me the truth, Elijah Jones."

Obviously, this was not something Elijah had prepared for, and his poker face slipped a little, just a fraction enough to let Lina see what was at stake.

Cupping a hand over his mouth, Elijah stared back hard at Lina, brow furrowed deeply, possibly in anger of being called out or from conflicting emotions, neither was clear as of that moment.

"I knew you were sharp, a little too sharp actually," Elijah removed the hand, letting it fall again on Lina's leg, he squeezed it "Which is why I can't grasp how equally naive and stupid you are,"

Surely it was not meant as an insult, but Lina felt Elijah's calling her stupid set off an irritated twitch of her brow.

"I can't tell you much, other than you need to take better care with the company you keep," Elijah lowered to a fretful but firm whisper "I like you, Lina, more than I probably should with how little a time we have known each other,"

Heart drop kicked up into Lina's throat by the admission, a hand covered her mouth in shock.

Sliding an arm across the back of the sofa, Elijah took hold of Lina's shoulder, pulling her over to him and forcing her to rearrange her body until they were sat as they had been while on the park bench.

Fingers spread across Lina's back Elijah used them to pull her flush to his chest when he sat away from the sofa, allowing room for Lina's arms to fall over his shoulders, crisscrossing her hands on the back of his neck.

"You can trust me, Lina," Elijah repeated between soft caressing kisses on her neck, trailing them down to her collarbone where the shirt fell away of its own accord "I mean that,"

Once more asking for Lina's trust, Elijah slipped the hands up her back under the shirt amid some form of bodily gain. Cupping her rear and rolling her body against his when he pushed flushed against her.

Lips slipping apart with a soft moan, Lina didn't meet Elijah in the middle this time.

"Try asking for me to trust you," Lina whispered, disliking how readily her body responded to Elijah's "When you're not trying to get something out of me."

Pinching Elijah's cheeks to push together his lips, Lina smiled softly when he stopped in his vain efforts "Fiends are not people to be trusted," she murmured, taking the fingers from his face to flick the lobe of one of his ears.

Elijah didn't show anything other than a wide grin, taking his hands up the trails of Lina's body, the shirt he lent her moving up with them. "Fine. If you don't want to trust in me, trust in my fiendishness," carrying on lifting the shirt, Lina's arms raised, allowing him to slip it off over her head.

Tossing the shirt behind the sofa, Elijah brought one hand against Lina's back, another on a thigh, Elijah flipped Lina over, laying her down on the couch.

"Or was it that I was a scoundrel?" Elijah asked in a soft laughing breath, moving his mouth smoothly over Lina's neck and down to her chest.

"Though If my memory serves," his breath tickled against Lina's breast, her body twisting in his hold she bit back the gasping sigh.

"You decided I was both," closing his mouth around the sensitive skin, Elijah flicked his eyes up to Lina's, teasing it with his tongue for only a few seconds before coming back up to find her mouth.

Skin hot like she was running a fever, Lina's chest skipped when Elijah pressed his lips against her ear, breath tickling the lobe as he whispered in a soft breath "Can I have you, Doodlebug?"


	26. He who pulled the trigger

For a reason, Marcus still needed to ask he watched in some bemusement while Eric continued to crank the handle of a jack in the box.

Asked to enter what looked to be nothing but an odds and sods shop, Marcus perused the disorderly upkeep.

Behind the counter, a sharp-faced man lounged, reading a paper and acting like he was paying them no mind at all.

"...So, we are certain that the Bluebird is not the woman?" Eric broke up the teeth aching tune of mangled cogs with a request for an update.

Using a finger to pluck down an old leather tome, Marcus shook his head - bluebird was not Lina in the same description of the person they sought.

Flipping the dog eared pages, Marcus started to pace the narrow aisle they were in "Bluebird was a nickname he used for his sister, but they're not one and the same," summarising what little he figured out, Marcus slapped the book to a close "Vilem had no known sweetheart either that could have had the name attached to them,"

From what Marcus could gather, Vilem was not a womaniser, but a studious man with tight-knit morals - something that appeared to be the polar opposite of Vilem's sister, Lina.

Marcus had become increasingly concerned by her lacking presence over the week since the air raid.

Sure that Lina was not caught in it or hurt after making rounds to the local hospital and checking the names listed on the recently deceased, Marcus could only guess that something came up that acquired her attendance.

Eric hissed complaint when the Jack in the box's gears crunched loudly, the tune it played coming to momentary life before dying again.

"I gave you that file in good faith you would have something more for me," Eric stated, eyes coming up from the toy he was playing with "I won't extend a second courtesy should you have nothing for me soon,"

Appreciative that Eric released the file on Elijah without nothing gained in return, Marcus nodded his understanding.

In the time spent away from Dover and travelling to Leeds to follow up on a whispered mention of the bluebird being located there, Marcus was forced to come away empty-handed.

"The woman, the one you keep in your company," Eric continued to focus on the box, almost meticulous in turning its handle "Would I be right to assume that she is of The Battenberg household?"

Interest perked somewhat by the question. Marcus picked up an old chipped teapot "She is. Though they changed the British branch of the family to Mountbatten," the effort to detach their affiliation to Germany was impressive.

Eric showed little care for the name change "She's engaged to Prince Knud of Denmark," he leant to one side continuing to turn the handle of the Jack in the box.

"Their wedding was called off quite timely, she was supposed to be headed to Denmark in April," he mused, catching Marcus's eye sharply.

It was the April of that year that Germany invaded Denmark, so the decision to call off the wedding was a little too well-timed.

Assuming with confidence that someone from their side tipped off Lina's family, Marcus was starting to think that there was a much more in-depth deception at play.

That, and that the engagement was yet another detail Lina managed to keep impressively tight-lipped about, and another secret kept from Marcus.

Though Marcus supposed that it was not for him to know, it still would have been better to hear it from Lina rather than second hand.

"I am informed that it is she who is acting as your benefactor, correct?" Eric inquired with a lazy upwards glance.

Lina was the one who was supplying Marcus with all that was necessary to get by, though how Eric was aware of it when he made no mention of it previously was alarming.

"She keeps interesting company," Eric pointed to the man behind the counter "It was him who supplied your documents." Explaining that the man was more than just a safe person to speak around, Eric gave Marcus a little smile.

Worried already by Lina's absence, Marcus found it growing tenfold on learning that she held ties within Germany's intelligence sector.

Was Lina even aware that there was someone who could have guided her to the truth surrounding Vilem right under her nose?

"I wasn't aware," Marcus muttered, stroking two fingers across his temple.

Eric held little expression and showed nothing, but he peered over to the counter. "He worked in an advisory role under her father," going into further detail of the man's role; Eric flicked a piece of lint from his shoulder. "It was he who advised delaying her travel to Denmark."

Throwing a glance to the man, Marcus considered the information, scrutinising it.

If, as Eric said, it was under his advice to hold off Lina's wedding there were no lingering doubts that his loyalty was clandestine, but it placed Vilem even further in the spotlight of guilt.

It was starting to look as if Lina was the only one in the dark about what her family was doing with a little more insight.

"Cou—?!"

Certain the shop door was locked, it crashed open with a considerable amount of force, the bells above clanging unpleasantly, it came in unison with the ugly clunky laughter of the Jack in the box that finally sprung open.

Marcus's moment of alarm at facing potential arrest soon became a deeply riddled confusion.

"Roberts!" Clawing the door's frame, Lina was focused intensely on the man behind the counter, striding forward with determined steps.

Not in any stance to understand why Lina appeared after days spent missing and in a fit of rage, Marcus stepped - or instead was shoved - back to the shelves when she flitted by him as though he was some inanimate object.

Briefly looking over to Eric it was met with a finger tapped to his mouth, a slip of paper in his hand taken from the Jack springing around in circles.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say you look happy to see me," the man behind the counter addressed Lina with a nonchalant grin, still leaning on one arm on the countertop.

Lina picked something up as she walked, a box of some nature, and threw it at the man.

Dodged by a millimetre, the man came off the counter, flicking the brim of his hat. "That temper of yours i—!"

Cut off from whatever jibe was about to be made when Lina had thrown something else in the shadow of the box; it clocked the man square in his face.

"I warned you, Danny!" Lina shouted, only the counter between keeping her back.

Doubled over and with the palms of both hands pressed to his eyes, the man began swearing prolifically.

Dragging him toward the counter, Lina's hands wrapped firmly around the man who just that second gained a name- throat.

And it was no shy attempt to throttle Danny.

Watching the debacle blankly, Eric tossed aside the Jack in the box, pocketing the piece of paper.

Not quite comprehending what was going on or even why Marcus considered rescuing Danny from Lina's hands but changed his mind on finding the man grinning as his face turned red.

For some reason, Marcus did not think this was the first occasion Lina tried to strangle him.

"Your Highness," Eric addressed Lina directly, adopting a formal tone "If I could have a moment of your time?"

Curious about what Eric's approach would be, Marcus stepped off from the forced rest made of the shelves, an item or two falling and knocking sharply on a shoulder, it was ignored.

"If you could not tell. I am a little busy." Lina hissed back, pinching Danny's throat a little harder.

Eric took no heed and only placed a step forward "Yes, I can see that you are, but all I require is for you to listen-," he paused, rubbing a thumb on the index finger of his left hand, adopting a more official demeanour "-,Though let me be clear, should you refuse what I am to offer, I will cease all assistance on your brother."

Taking in Eric's profile, Marcus frowned, when a sly glance was thrown back.

Eric was more informed than Marcus first thought it seemed.

Passing a look over to the counter, Marcus noticed how stiff Lina's arms became, hands fixed in place.

"I would consider your next words wisely." Lina's response was dry, an attractive husk to its tone "Very, very wisely."

Eric lacked any enthusiasm for the underlying threat in Lina's reply and only gazed back with dead eyes.

"Need I remind you that it is you who is in the precarious position? Your name and the reputation of your beloved brother is balanced delicately, so be a good girl, and pay my words close attention," Eric slewed, articulating his words in a vicious tone.

Marcus did not like the tone that Eric used, but he stayed silent when Lina released Danny and turned sharply on a heel.

Calm, far too quiet considering the festering rage that she came into the shop with, Lina flashed a sweet smile.

"Listen, my dim little Fritz," tossing out the slur in an oddly soft tone Lina moved to stand before Eric.

"I think you will find it is you, who is in a precarious position as we speak," using a finger to push at Eric's chest, she crept in a step, her face drawing in even closer.

"I already know that you know something about what Vilem is accused of," she cooed gently, cocking her head "That should I listen to your offer, that I could know it too,"

Without warning, Lina smacked Eric in the forehead with the heel of her hand, making him stagger away from her.

"But let me make this clear," Lina sneered "I will swing from the gallows with a smile on my face before I ever accept an offer from you."

Without any sign that Lina was aware that Marcus was even there, she left less like the hurricane that she came in as.

"She hits harder than expected," Eric groaned, holding his forehead.

Danny wheezed a laugh "I told you that," using two fingers to loosen the shirt collar, he coughed "She can be trusted."

Peering between the two men, Marcus shook his head "A test?"

Hand still pressed to his forehead, Eric looked up sharply "I needed to be sure of her motivations, and resolve," he stated, taking the hand away with a few blinks and shake of the head "That she would not fold if threatened,"

Disliking being kept in the dark, Marcus propped himself back against the shelves "Did you get the answer you need from this little farce?" He asked sharply.

Eric crooked an eyebrow, the space between red from the smack Lina gave it "Her declaration that she would literally go down swinging rather than bend to someone's will is the answer I needed."

Marcus found that detail the furthest stretch from assurance. Lina openly stated that she would rather see Vilem and herself smeared in history as traitors than accept help for the cost of her pride.

"She won't sell us out, Marcus." Eric stated, "She said it herself that she would see herself hanging, not us."

Marcus saw the point Eric had picked up upon within Lina's statement, and that he blindly missed.

Should it come down to it, Lina would strike out on her own rather than be under the thumb of anyone, even if it meant her own capture and death.

Recovering, Eric took out the paper he found in the box reading it repeatedly before flicking it at Marcus.

"I didn't expect for you to be able to tell me who the bluebird was," Eric shrugged.

"What I needed to know was that your little bedroom companion was safe to work with," unveiling what he knew, Eric nodded to the paper Marcus snatched out the air.

Calling Lina a bedroom companion left Marcus in little doubt that Eric was aware of their relationship - what Marcus was in doubt over, was how Eric came to know of it.

"While you were focused on the other man, I have been watching. Enough to notice that you're more than just in a working relationship," Eric took on a sly smirk that matched his tone.

"You gave yourself away in the manner you look at her when she isn't looking at you," he added as though to clarify that no manner of prying too carefully was undertaken.

Turning the paper over and over, Marcus soon looked at it; there was nothing more than Eric needed to know beyond what he already knew.

Reading the inscription, Marcus brought his head up sharply.

Eric scratched behind an ear "He was told to shoot himself, but the details of why are yet to be known," he sighed "We know bluebird is not Lina, but someone that she knows."

Marcus felt his stomach clench, telling Lina that Vilem was made to commit suicide would not be taken well, not when Vilem done it right in front of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have to write this as cryptically as possible for any new readers, but for the ones who know already, Eric has always known exactly who Lina is *hint hint. nudge nudge* ;P


	27. Flawed logic

Close to being forced to stay in place by the hand's grip on the back of Lina's neck and teeth bit deeply on her lip, Lina's fingers clawed the end of the sofa.

Unlike when with Marcus where Lina took complete charge, Elijah was less willing to be told how Lina wanted it; she didn't mind.

A hand coming beneath Lina's stomach, Elijah let go of her neck to pull her body up and bring her flush against his.

Head back on Elijah's shoulders; their mouths exchanged fevered kisses intermingled by Elijah's wanton panting breaths.

Lina knew that it was not wise to play between two men, that it would eventually come to a cataclysmic mess at the end, but the temptation of both men was hard to resist.

Or at least that was what Lina attempted to convince herself of, and that it was not an act of pure spite that sent her running to Elijah.

Since Marcus asked Lina not to sleep with Elijah on the last occasion, they saw each other, she kept her word and turned away Elijah's advances.

Even when Elijah managed to lay Lina down on the sofa, the secondary lapse was short-lived; until now.

Somehow, beyond even Lina's logical reasoning, the blame for Vilem's forced act of suicide was turned on Marcus.

Meeting Marcus in the room rented above the Mayflower their time spent talking was cut short when he explained what was known about Vilem's death.

How could a person be made to turn a gun to their temple with no one around to enforce it?

Accepting that Vilem managed to get himself entangled in something severe enough that he pulled the trigger, what Lina could not take was that he was made to do it.

Which was where the blaming started.

Managing to find a cause to make it Marcus's fault for Germany starting the war the world was embroiled in, Lina didn't stop there.

Grasping at straws and hell-bent on maiming Marcus's seemingly unshakeable self, Lina declared that the days absent were spent in Elijah's bed when Marcus asked - not that Lina had been called back to London.

Wound up so tightly in the anger that knotted Lina's stomach enough that it made her physically sick; she sought solace in Elijah.

Elijah didn't even ask about Lina's sudden retraction of her refusal to allow him to partake in her body.

Practically jumping at the chance when it came, it was what led to Lina being bent over the sofa in his flat.

Body and mind detached, Lina was barely able to enjoy it and was only relieved that Elijah came because it meant that it was over.

Allowed to slip away once Elijah was done using Lina for support, she stayed knelt on the sofa, face buried in the back cushions and waiting for her breathing to calm down.

Lina knew already that all she achieved was to hurt herself.

"I didn't expect this today," Elijah spoke between small draws of breath "But I won't complain," a tiny laugh followed.

Head coming up when Lina pushed a hand through her hair, she side glanced at Elijah when he sat in the space lounged back with one arm slung over his head.

The picture of calmness and carnal satisfaction, it irritated Lina.

Reaching over for Elijah's bare chest, Lina plucked out one of the hairs, finally smiling when Elijah flinched away in alarm, turning a wide-eyed stare on Lina.

"You didn't expect that either," Lina stated with a distinct attitude twisting around to stand from the sofa.

Acting petty and petulant, Lina silently berated her behaviour while collecting the garments thrown off when embracing Elijah.

"Doodlebug?" Elijah tried to draw Lina's attention, his fingers brushing up a thigh "Come here," using the hand to guide Lina back to the sofa, she sunk into his lap in a straddle "What's wrong?"

The question of what was wrong was a blanket one. Covering everything and anything that was the cause for Lina's inexplicable moodiness.

Head thrown back with a dreadful sigh, Lina picked up her hands, pressing the heels to her eyes "Nothing." It was not something that could be discussed with Elijah.

"I've had a long week." Excusing her morose behaviour behind false reasons, Lina let her hands fall to Elijah's shoulders.

Losing focus and staring at the nothingness above Elijah's head, Lina did not resist when Elijah held her chin and angled her face toward him.

Scrutinising the response and the dullness in Lina's eyes, Elijah made it clear that he could not buy the excuse with his face alone.

"I don't want to talk about it," pushing Elijah's face away, Lina tried to stand but stopped when Elijah got a better hold, gripping her waistline.

Mouth puckering in a show of agitation, Lina relaxed as best she could back against Elijah.

Becoming angry too soon after the talk with Marcus would not bode well. Not when Lina had become so uncharacteristically bitter and intentionally antagonistic towards him.

In fact, Lina noticed that she was increasingly easy to anger as of late.

"I tried strangling Danny," spewing a reason that would deter Elijah from poking around her head, Lina shrugged with no show of remorse "Again."

Brow creased deeply; a single eyebrow shot up "Again?" Elijah asked with a short, shaky laugh.

There were many occasions where Lina tried to throttle Danny, and all were deserved in one way or another.

"He pissed me off," Lina stated coldly, putting a little more force in the second effort to stand up, Elijah let her go.

Dressing in silence Lina kept both eyes open and staring at the floor as she did, the wetness starting in the corners refused passage to come free.

Sliding the girdle on Lina looked over his shoulder when Elijah lit a cigarette, sitting forward on the sofa, he rested with his elbows pressed on his thighs, watching Lina dress.

Picking up the brassiere Lina stretched it around her back fastening it efficiently.

"What?" Asking after Elijah's purpose for watching, Lina twisted around the brassiere pulling the straps over her arms.

"I'm wondering if you're really about to just dress and leave," Elijah spoke his thoughts aloud with some grievance.

That was precisely what Lina was about to do, and she was not going to be swayed otherwise.

"I need to go home," Lina mumbled buttoning up the shirt before tucking it tightly into the skirt "I haven't been able to for weeks."

Being called up to London for a wedding was not how Lina wanted to spend her time, but for the sake of formality, Lina needed to attend.

Publicly snubbing what was considered a prestigious event would not have been forgiven as it was known that Lina was not in active service.

It allowed Lina to put the feelers out among the attendees who knew Vilem on a more intimate level.

Disappointingly, no fruits were reaped from it, but that did not make the trip totally pointless.

"I'll walk you home," Elijah offered, pulling his trousers up but leaving them undone and hanging loose around the narrowing of his hips "Providing that is fine with you?"

There was some oddity in the way that Elijah asked like he expected to be refused.

"I can walk myself," Lina twisted around, using a foot to push one of her shoes over from resting on its side "You don't need to be courteous,"

Setting a hand on her head, Elijah came down to Lina's level "I am not being courteous. I am trying to spend time with you and figure out why you're acting strangely,"

Ducking out from beneath Elijah's hand Lina side stepped around him and the sofa, taking her coat off the arm "Don't keep my company if you can not respect my privacy," Lina declared sharply "Not while you keep yours."

Calling Elijah out on his hypocrisy, Lina collected her handbag where she dropped it without care or thought.

Since stepping off the train and charging like a bull at Danny, and the disastrous meeting with Marcus, Lina had not opened her bag.

Crouched down and throwing the contents back in, Lina paused on finding something that was not part of her belongings.

It was small, a very tiny envelope with a neat cursive writing of her name.

Turning it over Lina's throat swelled rapidly at the drawing over the seal of the envelope.

In blue ink was the detailed sketch of a bluebird and visible writing in German: Es geht nicht um die Wahrheit, sondern um den Sieg. - It is not truth that matters, but victory.

Hearing the creak of a board, Lina shoved the letter in her handbag, standing up in a rush.

Careful not to let her handbag fall open Lina clawed a hand over it while unlatching the front door.

Turning on the step and putting out a hand to keep Elijah from following, Lina shook her head.

"I'm sorry," Lina mumbled the apology weakly, pecking Elijah on the cheek "I really just need to be alone for a while,"

Arms folded, Elijah rested on the door with a worrisome smile "The last time you said that we didn't see each other for two weeks," he reminded, though failed to recall that it was Elijah who was gone for that time "Is this about to be the same?"

Wanting to be gone and not caught up in conversation, it was the slip in Elijah's memory that rooted Lina to the spot and encouraged a flashback.

On the Arethusa, when the door flew open, and the man ran out, Lina was caught up in her surprise to take much notice, but the man was abnormally tall.

Elijah only re-emerged a day after Marcus's return.

Could Elijah have known that Lina intended to get into Vilem's office and intercepted?

It would mean that the member of the home guard who was shot on the jetty, was killed by Elijah's hand.

A fact that seemed out of place, but made sense all the same. If Elijah were caught, it would have allowed Lina to know with certainty that it was him in Vilem's office that night.

Did Elijah think that Vilem held ties to Marcus?

If Vilem's treachery bore some truth, Elijah would look into finding a connection between the two, especially as Marcus arrived the same day Vilem took his life.

There too was the fact Elijah was already in Dover the same day Vilem came into port.

Could the suspicion of Vilem's actions have been known long before his death?

"Doodlebug?" Elijah cut in on Lina's thoughts, stroking back a segment of hair behind her ear.

Thinking in a muddle, Lina shook off the dark thoughts before smiling up at Elijah "It won't be as long as last time," she held his face, giving him another kiss "I promise."


	28. Fear of Falling

Far out from the town, the Mayflower stayed in business through its rooms more than its alcohol provisions.

Which was made apparent by how dismal the numbers of those who were sat within the bar.

As for Marcus, the quietness of the place was refreshing and provided time to think with little disturbance.

Fingers tented over the umpteenth whiskey ordered that evening, Marcus rolled the glass side to side with little inclination to drink it.

Tongue already numbed from the previous drinks, Marcus had aimed to blot out his thoughts and not his sense of taste.

A task that proved far more complicated when Marcus's memory seemed set to repeat the conversation with Lina and recollect every fine detail of what she spouted.

Wanting to think it all as words loaded on her tongue from the inability to accept how Vilem's death came about, Marcus was forced to admit that they cut more profound than expected.

Prepared in advance that Lina would be upset by the news, Marcus did not prepare for how poorly it would be taken.

Pinning the blame on Marcus and the fatherland, there was something profoundly and painfully right in the statement.

Germany's declaration of war was what brought England into the fray and ultimately Vilem too.

Finger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose, Marcus wanted to believe that it was the alcohol that left him in a state of morose thought; but attempting to live in denial was not who Marcus was as a person.

Facing the facts was something Marcus would often do in trepidation, but not turn a blind eye too.

Lina stating that she spent days with Elijah in his bed, cut Marcus's chest far more proficient than it should have.

Their dalliances started simple and without any meddling of their motives for helping one another.

Lina needed Marcus's help, and Marcus needed her protection.

It was a straightforward arrangement where the fornication came as a surprise bonus; until the lines started to blur between their motives and what they desired.

It came in profound clarity for Marcus when Lina released him from her guard and told him that he didn't need to stay and do as she asked.

Marcus only left to follow a lead, not because he wanted to find someone who could help him get back to Germany.

Marcus had no one waiting for him in the capacity that he did here in England.

Over time, it felt more comfortable and natural living with Lina. They even held some routines for their daily life.

Laughably, it came close to how Marcus expected married life to be in many ways.

"What's on your mind, love?"

Dropping the hand from his face, Marcus looked up when the barmaid approached him and laid an arm on the bar.

"You have been here all evening drinking your woes as if it will give you an answer," she commented on her observation "But I will tell you this, the only answer you will find is your own ruin,"

Bemused a little, Marcus laid the tumbler flat "I'm not looking for my ruin. I want to forget for a few hours,"

There was no harm in speaking with the barmaid over this, Marcus was still stable in mind to not allow a slip up should they get into a more in-depth conversation.

"You want to forget?" The barmaid hummed, holding her portly hips "I have just the thing," she clicked her fingers before bustling away to the other end of the bar.

Wanting to call the woman back, Marcus let his extended hand fall back to the bar, tapping it.

Marcus did want to forget, even if just for a few hours.

Finding a window, Marcus watched the glass ripple under the pelt of rain. Unsure when the storm started, the flashes illuminated the small bar before returning it to the homely glowing of candlelight.

"Here," the barmaid returned with two long and narrow glasses "Drink this."

Inspecting the green coloured liquor, Marcus recognised it as Absinthe, and the menthol aroma of the thujone was prominent.

"Thank you," Marcus picked the first glass up as the barmaid took hers, tapping them together in a silent roast before putting his head back and draining the glass.

It stung the back of Marcus's throat, and the intense menthol set his eyes watering.

Slamming down the glass with a wince and shake of the head, Marcus's scrunched up eye met with a similar face in the barmaid.

"Could wake the dead this stuff," she spluttered behind a hand, though it sounded cheerful.

Hand slapping the bar top, Marcus coughed, holding up a single finger as if to say he agreed but also needed a moment.

Tongue not so numb it ran across his teeth, taking away the remnants of the Absinthe before chasing it down with the last of his forgotten whiskey.

Taking the cigarette offered from the barmaid, Marcus stood on the stool rung a little to accept the light from the woman's match.

"Now, I'm no agony aunt, but I have a sympathetic ear," she spoke using the fingers clasping the cigarette to point past Marcus's shoulder "However, I will save my hearing for after your talk."

A little confused, Marcus pinched the cigarette between finger and thumb but did not entirely take it away from his lips.

"Go on. The mite is half-drowned," flicking the fingers towards a spot behind Marcus, the barmaid smiled.

Twisting around, Marcus's chest made an unpleasant thump.

True to the barmaids' description, Lina was half-drowned and looked more like she had swum there than walked the miles in the storm.

Stretching down a foot, Marcus laid an arm on the bar, trapped between wanting to go to Lina and not.

A decision that was soon made for Marcus when Lina moved in a jittery walk towards him.

Standing, Marcus didn't move when Lina stopped inches from him, the chatter of her teeth fierce as the redness of her nose.

"Can we talk?" Able, barely, to hide the jitters of her speech, Lina used the back of a hand to wipe the rivets of water that trickled from her hair and down her face "It is important."

Purely from the intensity in Lina's eyes, Marcus grasped that something was waiting to be told.

Nodding, Marcus swept a hand in the direction of the stairwell.

Hands firmly planted under her arms Lina crossed the room, each step a little more certain than the first.

"Here," a scrape of glass over wood made Marcus look at the barmaid, her pudgy hand wrapped around a fresh bottle of brandy "On me," waving away any chance Marcus would take to pay, she set down two glasses with a whispered: "Good luck."

Appreciating the woman's kindness, Marcus bowed his head before taking the bottle in hand and clasping the glasses between the index and middle finger.

Reaching the stairwell, Marcus found Lina was already at the top and waiting beside the rented room door.

Hands full, Marcus only made a subtle movement, but Lina understood and slid a hand in his trouser pocket to take out the room key.

Unlocking the door, Lina led the way in, the lights of the dying glow of the fire created a small circle of light that did not stretch far enough to show the whole room.

Setting the brandy and glasses down on the small desk by the door, Marcus barely had the door closed before Lina started talking.

"I loved him. Everything about him. He was everything I will never be,-"Lina cupped a hand to her mouth, catching the sob before it could take form "-, He was not a bad man, even when he was ruthless, or, or, cutthroat — it was never without good reason."

A shrillness held the tenor of Lina's voice, but it was unlike when she was a seething fury hours ago.

"I was the wayward one, the bitch without cause, other than I could be."

Fingers rigid, they hit against her chest hard enough that Marcus could hear them against the sternum.

"He had a reason, was driven by a good purpose when he lashed out, I did it for fun. He was kind; he was the compassionate one out of us both."

The situation felt similar to when they first met like Lina was talking, processing through what she struggled to come to terms with.

"I don't believe for a second he sold out those men,-"Lina's voice dropped to a strained whisper "-, That was not Vilem. That was not the brother I grew up with; he would never have done these things people are accusing him of. Never."

Marcus witnessed death many times in its coldest and cruellest forms. When it was meaningless, and for no higher purpose other than to kill, he had killed.

Marcus too never witnessed someone he loved die.

As Lina told Marcus that afternoon three months ago, and after throwing him around with far too much ease, Lina witnessed her father's plane go down only then to have Vilem shoot himself right beside her.

Marcus could see now that Lina never tried to come to terms with either death but instead chased the reality away through other means, until now.

"I have never cared about anyone, except for Vilem and my father; they were the only ones I never wanted to disappoint or hurt. No one else mattered, people have never meant anything to me, I can drop them as easily as that-," she snapped her fingers "-, without regretting it, ever."

Marcus shifted on his feet, the turn of the tangent making him uneasy for where it was about to lead.

"You were only supposed to be a tool. An extension I could move across this, fucked up board, to get what I wanted." Lina directed both hands sharply at Marcus "Fuck you."

Fired with great vehemence, the two single, simple words delivery was powered by Lina's voice's surety.

"Fuck you for making me care. Fuck. You." Marching across to where the bottle of brandy was left, the lid was ripped off viciously, a large quantity taken in one long mouthful.

"Why didn't you just leave?" It came in a weak and defeated gasp, arms flailing before slapping back at her sides "Why did you even come back?"

The question was one Marcus had spent hours about, and one that he didn't think he would be able to answer.

Lina's nature was fickle and flippant, self-serving and unabashed about it; except in this moment right here.

Marcus wasn't sure what changed or why it had, but in the dim room, it appeared as though she came face to face with more than her grief.

"You've never been in love, have you?" Marcus felt strongly that his assumption was correct, and not misjudged "It scares you, to be vulnerable and not the one in control, doesn't it?"

It was not just how Lina was when they slept together, but in her general day to day behaviour.

Control needed to be hers and hers alone.

It was scattered on Lina's visage, the alarm of being confronted not by Marcus, but by the fact that she was in love.

Probably for the first time in Lina's life, she was the most vulnerable, and she didn't know how to handle it.

"I didn't want to leave," Marcus finally answered the question "That is why."

Much like Lina, the idea terrified Marcus, but he had come to terms with it when he asked Lina not to give herself to anyone else.

Marcus didn't like it that Lina had, but it was clear that her denial and possibly fear was what chased her into Elijah's bed.

Choosing to hide under another so that she didn't have to face Marcus or how she felt about him.

"I don't expect you to say it, as I won't either," Marcus bit the figurative bullet for them both "But how you feel, is how I do too,"


	29. Hide’n’Seek

Sitting on her knees at the end of the bed, Lina viewed the windows with a frown.

The storm came in late the night before it was yet to let up. The glass rippled as it was pelted from time to time when the wind changed direction and drove the rain to it.

"You say you're not aware of when this came to be in your bag?" Sitting at the small table, Eric held the envelope between two fingers, staring at Lina in wait for an answer.

Lina shook her head, bringing the freshly brewed tea to her mouth "I had no clue when it got in there," drinking quietly from the tea, Lina ruminated a little on her trip "I was alone coming back," there was no one with Lina when she returned from London.

Eric's mouth pinched to one side, turning the envelope over and bringing it to his face for closer inspection.

The sketch was tidy and neat; the person was able to take their time to add all the details lovingly.

"This line here," Eric flicked the envelope "Is a quote from the Fuhrer." Stating where the term came from, or rather the quote, Eric scratched a finger down his cheek.

"It's not one I am familiar with," Marcus walked out the bathroom, running a towel over his jaw "Is it recent?" Checking that no part was missed while shaving with a hand, Marcus placed the sheet on a shoulder.

Eric hummed with a nod of the head "Only a week old at best." Holding the table with one hand Eric sat back in the chair, crossing his legs the hand that held the envelope propped on the rest "To have someone bring it here this quickly would suggest their network is extensive."

It is not truth that matters, but victory.

The question that came with the use of such a line was what victory were they speaking of? And what truth did not matter?

Was it directly linked to the war or a more personal sort that was yet not totally known?

"Why were you in London?" Eric held up the envelope, wagging it about.

Resting the teacup in her lap, Lina refrained from groaning "Wedding. A cousin twice removed. I had to attend for the sake of saving face."

The only positive part of attending was that Lina could drink and eat on finery that Dover did not hold.

"Did you go anywhere while there?" Eric brought his tea to his mouth, hands over it like a spider sitting in a web "Did you come in contact with any friends or old lovers?"

There was a short trip into Soho, but with a different bag. Friends wise, Lina had seen a few and visited the hospital to see one who had just given birth.

Recalling whether Lina had the handbag at the same time, Lina confirmed it was not.

"My bag, the one I found it in, I only use when travelling," the penny dropped in Lina's mind "It was in my room at the hotel the whole time until I left."

Eric nodded, hand no longer over the teacup but stroking under his chin "So I will ask again, did you see any old lovers?" Eyes drifting to meet Lina's it came with a flat smile.

"No," Lina clipped back, with a subtle roll of the eyes when Eric mentioned that he only needed to be sure.

There were no old flames Lina would have considered paying a visit to, and though she knew it needed to be asked, there was some irritation that it was spoken with Marcus present.

"Here," Marcus held out a neatly folded pile.

Clothes finally dry and able to be worn again, Lina took a step off the bed, careful that the quilted paisley robe she was forced to wear did not fall open.

Taking the pile of clothing, Lina didn't speak to excuse herself to the bathroom, instead, leaving the two men to discuss what little they could take from the purpose of the envelope.

Closing the bathroom door with a kick, Lina placed down the clothes on the sink counter before shrugging out the robe.

There was nothing inside the envelope, no letter or note.

Dressing in quiet contemplation, Lina considered the type of person who would leave it.

Was it a taunt, a warning?

Could someone be trying to help but didn't want to risk coming out of the shadows?

As of that moment, there was no direct way of knowing if this person or persons were more than just an ambivalent presence.

There was no defining clue to detail them as one or the other.

Dressed again Lina leant closer to the mirror, using her fingers to tame down her hair.

Since the talk with Marcus, the night before Lina felt a little lighter but no less apprehensive.

Being told bluntly what Lina was experiencing was not precisely how the conversation was intended to go.

Coming to the Tavern to speak with Marcus at first was only to discuss the envelope, not to lay herself bare in a manner Lina never had before.

Reassured that it was not just a one-sided feeling, Lina did not like her slip in judgment.

Marcus could not stay here forever.

Possibly it was the self-sabotage of setting herself up for an inevitable fall that scared Lina the most.

Sighing, Lina looked away from the mirror to the frosted glass. The rain was yet to let up.

A rapid knock on the bathroom door made Lina release a hand from the sink counter, but she stopped calling out when Eric threw his head around the door.

"You're dressed. Good. Hide." Eric clipped out each word rapidly with a click of the fingers.

Alarmed when Eric came into the room and held out a hand to Lina it was taken in great puzzlement.

Leading Lina to the bathtub, Eric stood on the edge after she stepped in, taking great care not to jingle the curtain's rings.

"Are you going to tell me what is going on?" Knowing that for some reason Lina needed to keep quiet and be hidden, she spoke in a whisper as Eric moved around to bring the curtain around.

Eyes just above the rail of the curtain, Eric peered down at her "Your intelligence officer is downstairs," he sniped "We don't know why, but you shouldn't be seen here for now."

Elijah was there?

How or even why?

"Stay here." Eric ordered, "We are about to go down, but stay put until we get you."

Ordered to stay hiding behind a shower curtain Lina shrugged her shoulders, what was she supposed to do to kill time?

Something sharp clipped the top of Lina's head, forcing her to look up, which let her catch the second thrown item.

Clapping both hands around a box, Lina peeked in the gap; matches.

Inspecting what was first thrown Lina found a pack of unopened cigarettes.

"Just stay quiet until we get rid of him," Eric whispered close to the curtain.

Picking up the packet, Lina sighed, sitting on the edge of the bath backed by the tiled wall - it was cold.

Only able to assume that Eric left a set of eyes in the bar, Lina lit a cigarette, one hand gripping the bath edge for extra support.

"I won't make a peep." Assuring Eric that she would be quiet, Lina watched his silhouette move further away.

A chain rattled - the toilets?

A flush of water, Eric turned the taps a few seconds after. The squeak of his shoe indicated that he turned from the sink and moved to the bathroom door.

"Oh?" Eric spoke in surprise - it was hard even to pick up that it was false.

"I didn't know you were expecting company," Eric continued to speak, but his voice became a little distant "Should I leave?"

The bathroom door was kept open, no doubt to lessen the suspicion that someone else was in the room.

"I have no qualms with your presence," Elijah responded a little sarcastically "You must have important things to discuss to be hidden up here,"

True. Two men in a private room could be seen as odd.

"Important, you could well be right. Though I suppose you have much the same to come up here too," Eric addressed the matter in nonchalance.

It would seem that the effort to intercept Elijah was intercepted.

"I won't fuck about here." Elijah stated bluntly "Lina? Have you seen her?" Elijah cut straight to the objective of being at the Tavern.

With their last seeing each other being cut short and with little explanation other than wanting time alone, Lina could only assume Elijah had not bought it.

"I haven't," Marcus answered shortly, obviously some space away from the bathroom door.

"This is important, so if you have, just say so." Elijah urged with an evident insistence not to be lied to about the matter.

Curiosity roused unpleasantly, Lina fought back the fidgeting of her feet.

"I have no reason to say otherwise," Marcus explained calmly "I haven't seen her in quite some time."

Marcus's lie was only a partial one, but it didn't seem to put Elijah at rest.

"Long enough to know her house has been upturned?" Elijah was showing some impatience, and Lina could understand why.

Was Lina's house broken in too?

Could it just be a clever ploy to get Lina to come out from her hiding spot?

"Upturned?" Eric asked, trying to gain better insight into Elijah's question.

"Turned up and inside out. Completely gutted." Elijah detailed with some aggravation "Are you sure you have not seen her?" Pushing both Marcus and Eric for an answer, there was a creeping silence.

"I assure you if we knew, we would say," Marcus portrayed nothing, but feigned concern "Have you spoken with anyone who would have seen her?"

Feeling at some odds at being spoken about as though not there, Lina strained to listen as the conversation dropped into whispering.

Being unable to listen, Lina's heart increased in pace. Elijah would have good reason to mention they saw one another the night before, and Lina wasn't too keen on what Marcus could take from it.

"We will come with you. Three eyes are better than one," Eric announced, possibly coming out of the whispered talks to alert Lina that they would be leaving.

"Shouldn't someone stay in case she turns up here?" Elijah asked the question that seemed out of place; Marcus came on its heels with a response: "She doesn't know that I am here."

Once more lying, Marcus looked to be continuing the angle that they had not been in contact for a long time.

The question was, why?

Did Marcus want to make it look like they had disconnected?

"Can I use the bathroom?" Elijah's request was not odd but inconvenient.

Aware that the cigarette in hand would be seen by the wisps of smoke, Lina moved to lose it down the baths drain as silently as she could.

Except for Lina was left half crouched over the drain when the door closed.

Stuck in possibly the most beautifully awkward position, Lina could see the ripple of a shadow moving across the room.

Which led Lina to wonder if her outline in its peculiar position would be seen from the other side of the curtain.

Seconds ticked on tensely when Elijah made no sign that he was actually in need for the toilet.

Ankles started to burn from her weight being disproportionately placed on them, the arm supporting her on the edge of the bath also started to ache.

Whatever Elijah was up to - possibly waiting for Lina to come out - he made no inclination.

Breathing constricted and impossibly slow, Lina lapped back the nervousness of being caught hiding.

"Doodlebug?" Elijah whispered to the room "You can come out."


	30. Mirror Confessions

Elijah's calling Lina out was like an unseen double edge sword.

Making it known that Elijah was both aware and not that Lina was hiding behind possibly the ugliest shower curtain ever seen, the result of the situation would come down to whether Lina confirmed what Elijah evidently suspected before he did.

A second was all it would take for either one to pull back the curtain.

Lina didn't budge and refused to do so no matter how badly her ankles and arm wanted her to.

There would be too many questions asked and difficult to answer if Lina showed herself.

If Elijah wanted to play the waiting game, then Lina would play it with him.

Once again, the chain rattled, and the toilet was flushed.

A few seconds spared between the squeak of the taps spluttered water into the sink.

Splashing water easily covered anyone speaking slowly, and it seemed to work even while in the room.

Elijah was whispering, saying something as though to himself that was hard to decipher over the taps.

Frustrated a little at not being able to hear, Lina felt her fingers start to slip.

"...I hope you will allow me to be frank when the time comes," Elijah mumbled, almost as though in rehearsal for something. "That you will take me seriously when I say this..." the little speech was interrupted by the rattle of things being moved around the counter "I love you, Doodlebug."

Lina's arm gave in, sending Lina falling.

The bathroom door hitting the wall behind in time with Lina's tumble, the breeze created by the door opening gave cause to the curtains rippling, as did the thump of the door cover Lina's forehead knocking on the taps.

Doubled over and clutching her pulsing head Lina clenched her teeth to bite back a cry of both agony and frustration.

"Come on," Eric's sharp tone entered the room "Time is of the essence here." Hurrying Elijah along, his timing could not have been any more precise.

Elijah started to leave the room, stopping beside the tub for a few seconds "I am coming," he muttered, tailing it with an "I needed a moment to let a few things off my chest,"

Lina could not be sure, but it felt like Elijah was speaking directly to her with the last part, as though to ensure that she would take what he confessed to a bathroom mirror was true.

"Chest?" Eric whistled "Did you ever go to school?" There was some sarcastic crassness in his quip "Or are you one of those oddities who name their body parts?"

Keeping back a short laugh, Lina breathed out slowly through her nose.

The palm of one hand felt damp, and on taking it from her forehead, Lina found there to be blood spreading in the vines of her skin.

The knock was more laborious than first suspected and made better sense of why the peripheral vision held a soft blur.

Wanting the three men to hurry up and leave Lina cupped her head again, hoping that the cut was not too substantial to cover up.

"Hardly," Elijah spoke crisply, finally moving away "Let's get going, then."

There was movement, and small, stunted conversation between the three men before the room's door was opened.

"Does everyone have everything?" Marcus spoke to the other two, making it known that he was the last to leave and that the room was soon about to be all clear.

After a few assurances that they held no need to return to the room, the door closed and there sounded to be some rattling with the lock.

Knowing that Marcus would not be so dull of mind to lock the bedroom door, Lina sighed deep relief while taking care to pull back the shower curtain.

Still showing caution not to make too much noise if they were in the hall, Lina stepped over the bathtub wobbling a little to the sink.

Letting the water out in just a trickle Lina cupped it after washing away the blood, splashing some across her face.

Hissing, when touching the small tear in the skin on her forehead, Lina checked her reflection.

It was small, a little deeper than expected, but nothing to cry about. It too was possible to hide under a careful adjustment of Lina's fringe.

With relatively nothing to use to rework the hairstyle from an up-do of soft curls, to let it fall loose and half tied, Lina tried to make it not look too much of a mess.

Fluffing the fringe to sit slightly towards the left, Lina secured it with a spare bobby pin.

Turning side to side to check that her hair did not look a mess or unfitting with her blouse and skirt, Lina caught something in the corner of her eye.

Distracted by the little head trauma, Lina forgot for a time that Elijah confessed to being in love.

And not just in love, but in love with Lina.

Yes, Elijah was not the first to have said such things, but he would be the first that Lina cared about letting down.

Picking up the slip of paper left on the bathroom sink Lina read the short message repeatedly before returning to the bathtub and taking out the cigarettes and matchbook.

Lighting up Lina balanced her elbow in midair, holding the cigarette hand in suspension to the air while looking at Elijah's scribbled note.

Still unsure whether Elijah was genuinely aware if Lina was there, the note could well have been left for Marcus.

"The sofa has never been more beautiful than when you lay upon it, bare-skinned with my name on your tongue." Reading it out loud, Lina's tongue flicked across her teeth, before a smile roused.

Sitting the cigarette in her teeth, Lina lit another match dangling the note over the small flame.

Watching the edge of the paper smoke black, and curl in the small flame Lina dropped it in the bathtub.

As sweet as a confession, it could have been, Lina did not feel the same as Elijah.

Rare, to the point of never, did Lina ever love anyone.

A point Lina had been made to Marcus in the very early hours of that morning.

Leaving the bathroom and the ashen note, Lina examined the room. Both coat and handbag were hidden from view, Lina spent only a short time rifling around Marcus's belongings to find them stowed on a hanger in the wardrobe.

Placing the coat over an arm while Lina put the cigarettes and matches inside her handbag, she tested the door handle.

It gave under the hand.

Knowing that Lina would need to appear back in town and see her home and squash the concern that she was missing, Lina left the Mayflower calmly.

Stealing an umbrella from beside the tavern door, Lina opened it before leaving the small porch and waltzing out into the storm.


	31. Split Second

The claim that Lina's home was turned upside down was the most considerable understatement Marcus ever heard.

Forced to use the floorboards' supporting beams to enter the hall, the floorboards were piled with an odd neatness against the stairwell.

Edging further in Marcus checked around the door of the living room.

Much the same the floorboards were pulled up, and the sofa, armchairs and cushions slashed open.

The coffee table and rolled up rug was placed onto the bureau.

The bureau moved from the far corner to the marble surround of the fireplace.

There was no denying that whoever came into the house was searching for something.

Forced to use the wall to angle away enough to let Eric climb around him, their eyes quickly found each other.

It seemed they were both thinking along the same lines.

Lina had hidden Marcus's belongings that would incriminate his alliance to Germany in a place that even he was not sure of; so he could not be certain if it had been found.

"This is certainly meticulous." Eric called from the kitchen where it was the only place that looked to have its floor intact "Everything has been turned out."

For some reason, Eric froze on looking at the back wall.

Turning to view Elijah, standing between a beam and the bottom step, he drummed the bannister, a look of pensiveness on his face.

Better understanding of why Elijah looked so worked up when meeting them at the tavern, Marcus didn't like what else was confirmed by it.

Should Lina have been home yesterday after their argument, then the outcome of the searching of her home could have been much different.

This was work that would have taken hours, not minutes, and they would have had to work in daylight hours.

"Bloody hell."

Reeling around, and almost taking himself off the beam, Marcus startled at the man on the doorstep.

Recognising the man to be one of Lina's squadron, the name slipped Marcus's memory.

One hand on his head, the cap was pushed back a little while he scratched his head "I knew you mentioned renovations, but this is something else." He exclaimed with a hand gestured in disbelief.

Momentarily confused by the man's manner of speech, it became clear when Lina stepped from the man's shadow.

"This was not my doing, you dolt." Smacking the man on the back of the head with a folded down umbrella, Lina's surprise was a short-lived allowance.

Coming down off the steps, Elijah was upon Lina much quicker than Marcus would have liked.

"Do you mind?" Lina asked, shrugging off Elijah's far too enthusiastic hands-on efforts to check her over, the umbrella turned to hit Elijah's head a little sharper than the other man's.

The man who spread out an arm to ferry Elijah back a little, much to his chagrin.

"Easy now, fella," the man pointed the finger at Elijah "Watch those hands."

From behind the man, and out of Elijah's view, Lina lent up to the man's shoulder and whispered something.

"Sorry, who are you?" Elijah asked sharply, showing some agitation at the man's efforts to come between him and Lina.

"I was the one who sent you packing into the pigswill," the man spoke with a smile "Which you're going to be heading right back into if you carry on,"

John. The man's name was John.

"Feel free to," Lina commented, hooking the umbrella handle on John's arm where he held his waist.

Balancing carefully on the centre beam, Lina finally came inside the house, leaving Elijah and John to share verbal sparring.

Offering out a hand to help Lina pass him, Marcus leant in as she did "Why is he here?"

Wobbling a little on the beam, Lina held tighter to Marcus's hand "I ran into him on my way back," she answered once her footing was more stable "He came out to drop off letters that were delivered to Manston."

Letting go of his hand, Lina carried on down to Eric who reached out a hand to bring her safely across the last few inches.

They talked for a short time before Eric was at the back door and walking out across the garden.

"Come here," talking in more of a whisper Lina motioned for Marcus to come into the kitchen with a roll of the hand.

Checking on Elijah and John's argument, it looked to be going strong, so Marcus left them to continue.

Crossing the beam rapidly, Marcus stepped down into the kitchen, and like Eric, he froze on seeing the back wall.

Emblazoned on the wall was the Swastika and beneath a slogan eerily familiar: ein volk ein Reich ein führer.

One nation, one empire, one leader - it was the foundation of the Nazi party's propaganda back home.

Scratched into the wall too was, Nazi-Hure.

"Nazi whore. Charming." Lina mumbled before moving to the table "A hand?"

At first not sure what she wanted, Marcus eventually figured out that Lina wanted the table moved and flipped up to the wall to cover the markings.

Only able to guess that Elijah had not seen what was on the wall, Marcus pushed the kitchen door closed before helping Lina move the table.

Heavier than expected, they moved in a shuffle to bring it to the wall setting it down on all four legs first before Marcus took the end and tipped it up, careful in placing it to the wall.

Huffing slightly, Marcus ran his hands together to remove dust and lint "This can not be good." Head indicating the wall, Marcus did not much like the purpose behind it being placed on the wall.

Not knowing if it was a warning or a concerted effort to out Lina's aiding of Marcus, there was much to consider.

"Didn't look as though it had been touched," Eric came back into the kitchen with his hands held out and clawed, dirt-packed deeply around his nails and smeared over the fingers "I have taken it for now."

Marching to the sink, Eric made quick work of washing his hands.

"Do you think that the message and the wall could be one and the same?" Lina asked, directing the question at them both.

Stopping the taps Eric made a half-turn "I doubt it," his head shook "Whoever wrote that would have to be sure that it would be understood by the person reading it," explaining his theory, Eric shook the water from his hands.

"But that quote was from your, Fuhrer," putting sarcastic emphasis on the final word, Lina held her hip while wavering a hand back and forth.

"That is known propaganda," flicking a finger to the wall, Lina turned to face Marcus "The little pet name at the end can't purely be coincidental name-calling,"

With the line of deduction, Lina was following; it pointed to one individual.

"Elijah was the one who knew about this place," Marcus announced his thoughts "As an intelligence officer, he would be knowledgeable, I assume, on what this says."

Stroking his chin, Marcus looked at the propped up table, it had been heavy to move, but it would need to do so again.

"We can gauge the reaction should we let him see it," Eric nodded catching on, drying his hands more efficiently "Once it's moved, get him in here," looking over at Lina it came with a small shrug "Providing your friend hasn't dumped him in pigswill again."

Any other occasion, Marcus would have laughed, but not in this moment.

Taking hold of the table legs, Marcus pulled them down until they were in reach of Eric.

Again shuffling with the table back to where it had been before, Marcus nodded to Lina that it was time to call Elijah in.

Kitchen door opening again, Lina placed a finger and thumb in her mouth, whistling.

"If you two could stop declaring your love for one another," Lina half-shouted, "There is something I need you to see."

Keeping a hold on the door, Lina stepped aside.

"I would declare my love for my own excrement before this arsehole gets more than a compliment out of me!" John shouted back, his voice echoing in the hollowed-out hallway.

"At least we agree on something," Elijah muttered ducking under the doorframe and coming to stand in the middle of the room, back to the wall.

Eric stood with both arms folded "Behind."

Showing nothing more than a bit of curiosity, Elijah turned around to look at the wall.

From where Lina stood beside the door, she held the vantage point to gage Elijah's reaction, but it was John who stole Marcus's attention.

Side glancing at Eric they soon were both looking at the man carefully.

Elijah was loud in his proclamation of surprise and making a show of it, a little too much in fact, but John?

The man was calm like he had seen it before.

Worried that it would be difficult to convey the freshly found concern with Lina, it was side-swept on finding her staring at John and him right back at Lina.

There was a silent exchange between them, something positively alarming by how wide Lina's eyes opened.

Hand searching in a pocket, Lina flipped out the envelope looking at it.

"Bluebird."

The name came in a whisper from Lina, and as it did, Eric drew out a handgun a fraction of a second slower than John.

"Lina!"

Marcus's shout became swallowed in the two shots; both fired seconds apart.


	32. wird niemals passieren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title: wird niemals passieren - will never happen

There was a distinctly different tone to a bullet ripping through wood than flesh.

Time itself changed how it flowed. Becoming too fast seconds before a bullet fired and too slow when the target was found.

"Oh!" Lina declared, a little calmly "That hurts."

Stopped mid-stride, Marcus's brow knitted deeply at the calm announcement to Lina's being shot.

"Shock." Eric gave reason for the lacking reaction, cocking the gun and removing the empty shells.

Shoulder clasped tightly in hand; blood poured over the sheet white skin making the colour more prominent.

Stepping over John where he laid, one side of his skull blown outward, Marcus held up his hands shielding Lina's vacant stare from seeing it.

Knowing through second hand regaling how Vilem ended his life, Marcus didn't want Lina to be reminded in any form of it.

"Jesus. That was a clean shot." Elijah pinched up his trousers, crouching over John and inspecting the bullet entry and exit "You a marksman?"

Holstering the pistol again, Eric breathed out in a profoundly exasperated sigh "Don't you think your concern should be elsewhere?"

Chastising Elijah for the lack of care over the very person he showed great distress about only a few hours before made Marcus throw a look down on the man.

There was not even a flinch from Elijah when the bullet entered Lina's shoulder.

"John has a Bluebird," teeth chattering, Lina's body was shaking along with it "On his chest." Shaking and wobbly Lina took the bloodied hand from her shoulder and pointed to Marcus's chest "Tattooed there."

Confounded by the depth of shock Lina was in, Marcus took the hand at his chest carefully. It was strangely warm as it was wet.

"Sit her down," Eric requested pulling out a chair with a jarring scrape "Here."

Stiff as a petrified rabbit, it took a little too rough a pull to get Lina moving.

Keeping a hold on Lina's shoulder and hand, Marcus guided her in slow steps to the chair where Eric was preparing a glass of whiskey - a large one.

Careful when holding Lina's forearms and attempting to make her sit down, she dropped hard when her legs gave out.

Reaching over Lina's shoulder, Eric picked up her hand and closed it around the glass "Hold this." He ordered, waiting until her fingers gripped it before releasing "Good."

Moving to the other side Eric picked up the wrist of the arm that had taken the bullet "Hold this." Placing a fork in that hand, it convulsed a little but managed to hold onto it.

Looking at Eric when he brought his head up, Marcus nodded in understanding.

There would be minimal nerve damage to the arm.

Standing and acting like a wall to keep Lina from witnessing John's body, Marcus could finally feel the rhythm of his heart start to calm down.

Far too close a calling with death, the concept that Lina could have died in that split second moment, left a sickness in Marcus's stomach.

"Is she ok?" Elijah inquired, coming to stand beside Marcus.

Whether it was from remnant adrenaline or genuine anger, Marcus turned sharply on Elijah taking a hold on the front of his shirt and forcing him to the wall.

"Do you even care?" Forearm pushing up under Elijah's chin, Marcus kept a hand twisted in the shoulder of his shirt "You just walked past as if nothing happened."

Reminding Elijah of his immediate actions after it was confirmed that Lina took the bullet, Marcus could not understand why Lina ever found interest in Elijah.

In Marcus's opinion, self-serving, conceited, and a terrible act of showing care or consideration, Elijah was an abysmal failure of a man.

Holding Marcus by the collar, Elijah pushed back, attempting to dislodge his footing.

"Don't get on your high horse," Elijah spat back "I was covering the state your friend left him in," his teeth were grit, lips curled back over them "I was there when her brother blew his damn brains out, and I didn't want her to be reminded of it." Lowered to a hiss, Elijah pushed his forehead hard against Marcus's.

Was Elijah trying to paint a more saintly picture of his reaction?

"If you two could stop," Eric called over with exigency "I need help here."

Paused in the instant Eric spoke, Marcus released Elijah rapidly.

Expecting to see that Lina could have passed out or worse, what Marcus found was not what was expected.

Stressfully rubbing across his face, Marcus would not have laughed, if it were not characteristic of Lina's behaviours.

Turning the fork into a weapon, it was stabbed in the back of Eric's hand, the shoulder of Lina's coat partially off, Marcus could see where some misunderstanding may have come about.

"Don't touch me," Lina demanded, curling the arm against her body.

Eric shot a sharp eye to Marcus before flicking it back to Lina "I have no sordid interest in you. Just let me see your shoulder."

Lina swayed to the side to peer up at Eric "I know you have no sordid interest," she sniped back "I just don't want you touching me."

It was difficult to decipher whether the shock was wearing off or whether it was still present.

"I need to take that bullet out," Eric argued stressfully, prising the fork out his hand with a hiss "So quit being difficult."

Lina hummed "I will quit being difficult when you show me your papers that qualify you to pull this out."

Eric's face fell flat.

"No papers. No touching." Lina straightened on the chair "This really does hurt." Gulping down the whiskey given, on the other hand, Lina's skin started to show some colour "I know where the doctor lives, and someone needs to deal with that," she pointed to John's corpse.

Standing up without as much issue as it was to get her to walk, Lina's behaviour was deeply concerning for all.

This was something other than shock; it was almost a flat out denial and dissociation from what had just occurred.

Something that was further confirmed when Lina stepped over John without much acknowledgement.

Turning to watch Lina as she walked across the beams with utter confidence, Marcus nodded when Eric spoke up.

"She doesn't handle death well," Eric observed, "Does she?"

Knowing well enough that Lina lived in a state of denial over Vilem and their father, this was something almost entirely different.

"I don't think it's his death," Elijah entered with his thoughts "But that someone she thought she could trust turned a gun on her."

There was possibly a little more to it than a case of broken trust if what Lina whispered was true.

John could well have been the man, or one of the many, that led to Vilem's death.

A death that Lina was yet to come to terms with properly.

"Someone better go with her," Eric advised, "I will handle this." Pointing to the wall, Eric glanced over Elijah who showed some consideration to it.

"This wasn't here when I came by this morning," Elijah mentioned, "Someone has added this."

Whether it was an intentional misdirection or not, Marcus did not have the time to consider.

Rushing across the beams when Lina dropped out of view, Marcus sharply turned the corner of the garden gate.

Leaning up against the hedge with the whiskey to her lips, Lina lowered it with a small smile.

"It skimmed." Shaking the shoulder up and down Lina's mouth twisted a little at the motion "I'm fine." Using the glass to point at him and brush away the fact she was not ok, a long sigh left her.

Baffled, Marcus approached slowly, focusing closely on Lina.

It was quite a display if what Lina said was true.

"Check my pocket," Lina offered the side she wanted Marcus to inspect.

Cautious, Marcus delved a hand into the pocket, his head coming up to meet with Lina's devious smile when he touched upon a folded bit of paper.

Taking it out, Marcus opened it.

"He knew all along where I was." Lina whispered close to Marcus's ear "As per his orders, they ripped the place apart looking for your little trinkets," using a finger to lightly stroke his cheek, she laughed a little giddily.

Reading the paper over, Marcus soon flicked his eyes to Lina's "How did you get this?"

Stowing it away in his pocket, Marcus took the glass away from Lina's mouth "How?" He repeated a little more sharply.

Scowling Lina lifted the hand of the shoulder she claimed was only skimmed, wiggling the fingers "When he walked past, it was hanging out," she explained, fighting with Marcus's grip on the glass.

Letting it go, Marcus let out a long deep breath.

"He mentioned that the swastika was added after. Is there a chance it could have been John?" Marcus needed to clear names off that could have left the graffiti and its message.

Lina hummed, tapping the glass against her lip "I figured out the Bluebird was John's tattoo on a hunch. It wasn't by his calmness to the lovely little scrawling,"

So, Lina didn't think that John could have left the painting on the wall.

"Nazi-Hure has a pleasant ring to it," Lina laughed off the smear as if it meant nothing "I suppose it isn't far wrong either," glancing at Marcus with a shrug, she finished the most of the glass.

Deeply attested to the term or even Lina's humorous take on it, Marcus considered a better option: "Meine Frau sounds better to me."

Lina slanted her gaze to Marcus once more, before looking off ahead "Mm, it does sound nicer," she nodded before taking hold of Marcus's hand and slapping the glass in the palm "But we both know it could never happen."

Watching as Lina retreated up the slope with a hand ruffling in her hair, Marcus flicked the last of the glass down his throat.

Was it totally impossible a thing to happen? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meine Frau - My wife


	33. Do you?

The shoulder pain felt like a distant echo as Lina watched John's body taken from her home.

Standing under the investigator's umbrella, Lina did not look upon him while he asked his questions.

"He drew the gun first. His aim must have been off." Confirming the story Eric told about who drew on who, Lina lifted the cigarette to her lips "I don't know why he would have pulled the gun on me though."

Speaking part truth on John's motif Lina flicked the ash calmly, showing some boredom needing to repeat the kitchen's events.

After seeing John in the kitchen and the reservedness of the graffitied slogan and slur, it came to Lina in sharp recollection.

The Bluebird sketch on the envelope was a replica of the tattoo on John's chest.

Why only then Lina made the connection was not clear to her, but it was made with deadly results.

John was dead - and so were his secrets.

Chance to question John over what he knew was taken in a single and clean shot to the head, it would have to be chalked up as a loss.

Once more back to square one to who to look at, Lina felt she better understood the envelope's purpose.

Reading it now as a warning of the dangers around Lina rather than a silent promise of bringing danger, she wondered whether Vilem had set things in motion before taking his life.

If Vilem knew that he would be dead soon, could he have arranged something in advance to aid Lina?

They were pleasant thoughts to hold, but there was no basis to them other than wishful thinking that Vilem was still looking after Lina.

"Thank you, ma'am. Should we need anything else, we will be in touch," the officer bowed his head politely, taking away the umbrella as he walked to meet with the small cluster of officers by the black ambulance.

Left alone in the rain Lina inhaled deeply while watching a set of cuffs closing on Elijah's wrists.

Taking the written orders to Constable Peters directly, it was the first time Lina used her position to press an advantage.

Claiming unfair treatment, criminal damage of property, breaking and entering, and fathomless harassment for the as of yet baseless crimes brought against Vilem, the charge was taken seriously after a promise of taking it to the commissioner in London should Peters not take the complaint properly.

Even if it meant Elijah would be taken out of the picture for a short time, it was enough.

Taking the short walk to reach Elijah at a leisurely pace, Lina asked for a moment alone with him.

There was some hesitation from the arresting officer to walk away from his detainee, but with a quiet assurance that the time was only requested to talk, he retreated a few paces.

Eyeing the officer with vague amusement Lina soon turned to the purpose of her being stood in the rain.

"Is this why you asked for my trust, to rip apart my home?" Lina smiled serenely when Elijah's eyes narrowed "I hope you realise I have been aware that you're from central intelligence for a long time. I even gave you the chance to tell me the truth of why you were sniffing around me like a dog in heat."

The day of the air raid Lina offered Elijah the chance to tell her why he was there, but he missed it.

"It wasn't you that I was sniffing around, Doodlebug," Elijah shook his head, face crumpled a little deeper by the accompanying frown.

Lina nodded "Oh I know. Your issue is with Marcus," she watched in short-lived delight when Elijah showed alarm and surprise.

Lina lifted a finger, twisting it into Elijah's arm. "You were sweet, and I actually found myself starting to like you," laughing somewhat self deprecatingly, it was shortly before it became a sigh "Then I realised you were only using me."

Elijah shifted on his feet uncomfortably, head hung and staring off to the side.

"I wasn't using you at all," Elijah dismissed the claim "I would never do that, especially not to you."

The opening would allow Lina to ask Elijah indirectly about the small confessional in the bathroom.

"How am I supposed to believe that? You ripped my home up and then played dumb, you have been following me for weeks," Lina stated the fact with a count on her fingers for each one "Tell me, Elijah, what is that if not using a person?"

Elijah raised his head again, meeting Lina's eyes with some conflicted feelings.

"I told you already to be careful of the company you keep, and it was him I was speaking about." Elijah's tone became a gravel "He shows up claiming to know your brother, and you just welcomed him with open arms, not even checking his story out."

Elijah was compelling in his efforts to show that it was not something done out of spite but from a place of concern.

To a degree, Lina knew it was, but it didn't change how underhanded Elijah was when going about it.

Should Elijah have taken the opportunity, Lina gave him to be open about why he followed Lina around and kept turning up uninvited; then things could have been different.

"I couldn't tell you. I wanted to, I did, but what would have happened if my hunch was correct and you confronted him?" Elijah laid out the essence of his worries that stopped him from speaking with Lina.

"Nothing." Lina stated, "Nothing would have happened."

Even long before their relationship took a more intimate turn, Lina somehow knew that Marcus would not have acted in any form of aggression should Lina have confronted him.

When Lina did confront Marcus and intentionally broke three of his fingers, he did little more than show discomfort.

Which for Lina was a strong display of Marcus's character.

After they returned home, Marcus could easily have done Lina harm - but he didn't.

Even the fact they ended up sleeping together for the first time that evening would not have changed Marcus's mind if he decided to enact revenge or silence Lina permanently.

Something that Lina could never explain to Elijah, but knew deeply.

"He's not a bad man, Elijah. No matter how much you want him to be," Lina shook her head slowly, vaguely disappointed - Disappointed in many ways at herself.

No matter how Lina felt, it still did not change that in some respect, Elijah was correct in his thinking over Marcus.

Marcus was a German pilot in the Luftwaffe, an enemy of The United Kingdom and should have remained an enemy to Lina.

Who could tell how many times they took to the skies, fighting for their countries against one another?

Yet here, and now, the only fight between them was over whimsical, obscure and silly little things.

"Can you say that, though? You barely know him." Elijah made a valid argument, or at least he believed that he did.

"I know more about him than I do you." Lina pointed out, tossing away the cigarette when it started to burn her fingers.

It was a valid observation. Beyond what the file told Lina about Elijah, there was nothing more that she knew of him and his character.

Marcus, on the other hand, was candid with Lina when she asked about him.

That element was probably a lapse in judgment, to be so free with anything that Lina could potentially use against him.

Yet the same could be said for Lina.

Once more Elijah came in closer, leaving next to no space between their bodies "Then allow me the chance to let you know me," he asked in a hushed whisper "Please, Doodlebug,"

Bringing her face into a soft backwards tilt, Lina's nose brushed lightly against the tip of Elijah's, their closeness familiar.

"I allowed that chance for you," Lina shook off the request "I don't give second chances often, and you've expired more than enough."

Elijah lifted his hands, the space allowed between them small due to the handcuffs "I love you," the confession barely came on a breath, his fingers stroking over Lina's jawline.

Hearing Elijah say it directly to Lina's face was jarring. Not expecting to feel anything more than a waning shock, Lina didn't know why her heart fluttered excitedly.

"Do you?" Lina whispered back.


	34. Ich gehöre dir, meine Liebe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title: Ich gehöre dir, meine Liebe - I am yours, my dear

An umbrella popping open above Lina's head came in time with the slam of the police car door.

Lina's shoulder started to burn, the stitching itchy inexplicably.

Whole body in a state of numbness but heightened at once, Lina touched the seared point of her shoulder tenderly.

"He told me he is in love with me," Lina confessed, bringing the hand back down to her side.

Marcus looked across at Lina, momentarily lit up by the dimmed headlights, and he wore a deep frown "And?"

Feeling a little nostalgia to the moment, Lina told Marcus that Elijah said she could trust him, a laugh rippled from Lina.

"Nothing." She looked back at Marcus, curling a hand and stroking it over his jaw "I said nothing." She repeated, shrugging the shoulder that was not hurting.

Marcus brought an arm across his chest, taking Lina's hand from where it lingered on his face "That's not what I was asking,"

Head back, Lina curled her lip back between her teeth, hiding the smile that fought with her cheeks to come out.

"I know it wasn't," Lina broke a finger out of Marcus's hand, flicking it off the end of his nose, before taking a step and breaking apart their hands.

Keeping her back to Marcus as she walked up the slope, Lina could tell that he was only a few steps behind.

"Are you concerned that I am inclined the same way towards him?" Lina spoke over a shoulder, adjusting so that Marcus was visible on her peripheral.

Hidden under the lip of the umbrella, it was only the defined line of Marcus's jaw that Lina could see, but it was more than enough to know how he felt about the question.

The lacking reply confirming what Lina knew would be the answer from Marcus.

Peevish, and happy to play around on the topic a little, Lina skipped over a few puddles before ducking away and down a narrow side alley.

Carrying on for a short distance, Lina turned around to be sure that Marcus was behind.

The steep hill behind blocked from sight by the umbrella, Lina took a step forward, curling two fingers in the collar of Marcus's shirt Lina dragged him in close.

Their mouths were close, touching, but not quite.

Ghosting across Marcus's jaw Lina nipped lightly on the lobe of his ear, before finally saying what had been on her lips for some time.

"Du bist die Einzige."

Drawing back to Marcus's mouth, Lina stopped him from speaking by closing her mouth with his.

Gripping the back of Marcus's head to bring him closer, Lina didn't pay the sting in the shoulder any mind, not when Marcus dropped the umbrella and picked her up from the wall to bring her legs around him.

Pushing her fingers through Marcus's hair, Lina held him firmly to her, laughing a little when he pressed her more securely to the wall again.

Assisting Marcus in unclipping his trousers' belt, Lina pressed her shoulders to the wall when he aided her in bringing her undergarments away from her body.

Pulling one leg free, Lina kicked the knickers off the other's ankle before letting Marcus come back between her thighs.

Gripping Marcus's face in one hand Lina's body shuddered when he pushed into her, a long but low mew coming from her lips.

For a time they stayed in place, not moving except for short and firm kisses.

Marcus started slow, teasing almost until Lina's wanton body lost patience.

Rolling her hips back against Marcus, a hand left Lina's back to press against the wall.

Smiling within the kisses, their lips shared Lina's breath shortened when Marcus became less taunting in his movement.

Head laid on Marcus's short break in her moaning breaths allowed Lina to speak.

“Solange ich kann, will ich nur dich,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Du bist die Einzige.” - "You are the only one."  
> “Solange ich kann, will ich nur dich.” - "As long as I can, I just want you."


	35. Cousin Dearest

Called to London once again, Lina, on this occasion, did not attend alone.

Details of the reason to take the trip eluded too, Lina was asked to wait in the green room with her guests a short time.

The green room was a fancy term for a room painted and decorated in the aforementioned colour; and a few ornaments and decadent furniture placed inside.

Dressed appropriately for the audience, Lina remembered to kick the bottom of the dress with each step to save from an embarrassing tumble.

Leaving Marcus and Eric to peruse the room at their pleasure, it resulted in the two men sitting fireside and talking.

Discovering the alcohol cabinet, Lina wasted no time making herself one, savouring it. She played a few notes on the grand piano by the french doors that led onto a small balcony.

Double doors opening the finely suited man who welcomed them stepped inside, tucking two fingers in between his waistcoat buttons.

"His Lordship, your highness," bowing deeply, the pinched face of the Butler softened none with his smile.

Announcing who was about to enter the room, Lina whipped around.

"Ah. If it is not the abomination of Aunt Mila's womb," Lina greeted when a second man stepped into the room.

Blonde, with glasses and a shaggy beard, a smile graced his thin lips.

"I'm impressed," he took off his glasses, making a show of cleaning them before returning them to his face "You're in the company of two men and not on your back?"

Lina raised her glass as if to toast the slur "I've been having a terrible backache, I thought it best to change up positions," she responded with a smile and a small kick of a leg.

He tilted his head to look around the piano Lina was standing behind, before coming up to look at her "My dear, I am sure you had forgotten what your legs were even for," he shot back rapidly.

Extending the hand holding the glass Lina flicked a finger at him "There have been occasions that I have, I assure you,"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing up the thin wired glasses a fraction "If only you could show as much finesse and grace in person as you do in flight,"

Lina stopped the glass as it came back to her mouth, a sneaky smile on it "I spend a lot of time in tumbles and rolls while in flight too," she purred back "Though I appreciate you recognise my talent both in air and on my back,"

Eyes closed, he blew out an exasperated breath "And this, this is who they want to take the seat at the head of this house," throwing out a hand to indicate Lina it flicked up and down "A moral-less, vulgar tongued, harlot."

Sucking in a sharp breath, Lina clicked her tongue, wagging a finger back and forth.

"Moral-less and harlot are one and the same; I prefer artistically gifted in the arts of the bedroom and body," making a persuasive sway of the hips, Lina descended into laughter when he looked repulsed.

"Oh, darling cousin, I will never hand it over to you," Lina sighed with a shake of the head.

"When this little misunderstanding of countries is done with, I will waltz down that aisle with a grand smile," Lina mused, shrugging a shoulder carefully.

Hand tapping across the piano he walked around it as Lina did, leaving them walking clockwise.

"Are you forgetting the other part of the deal where you must produce an heir?" He grinned wickedly. "By how many men who have got between your thighs and you have not had a seed successfully planted? "he stopped, making an exaggerated shrug "I can't imagine you will be able to fulfil that stipulation."

Stopping when he did, Lina smiled witheringly "My darling little man," she started with a soft smirk "If I have to falsely declare that I am with child and steal a baby for a week to keep you off that seat for even a day longer, I will do it."

Finally, something other than a desperate effort to antagonise Lina and paint her in a poor light came to the man's face; he was livid.

"I will see you dead before this war even comes to its climax," he hissed in a furious promise.

Lina's eyes fluctuated from being wide open in surprise, down to slits "Are you threatening me?" She inquired, cocking her head "Flaxon."

Using her cousin's birth name, there was a second of delight when Flaxon's lips curled in disgust.

"Oh, Charles now wasn't it?" Lina fluttered a hand around her head "Sorry, sometimes I get fucked a little too hard and hit my head. Come away with short spurts of amnesia,"

Pounding the top of the piano with a fist, it twanged with notes painful on all their ears. Flaxon's teeth bared with the fit of anger; it had him positively foaming at the mouth.

Tongue poking out playfully across her lips, Lina chucked the last of the glass down her throat before tossing the glass at Flaxon - he failed to catch it.

"You better hope you're sharp when you bring that threat to fruition," Lina sneered back with an arrogant tilt of her head "Because I will not hesitate should you blunder,"

Keeping a hand on the piano Lina swept around it in a flash, heels crunching over the broken glass she stepped on the tips of Flaxon's shoes.

"But you won't do it yourself, will you?" Her voice husked, following Flaxon's gaze as it flicked side to side angrily before fixing back on Lina "You're too cowardly to do it."

Twisting two fingers into Flaxon's gut, he tried to step back, but with Lina standing on the ends of his shoes, he fell and fell hard.

Quick to pounce while Flaxon was on his back Lina kicked up the flowing end of her dress, driving a heel into his groin, waiting for him to curl up before stepping on Flaxon's face, forcing it further against the floor.

"You want my seat? You will literally have to take it from my cold hands," Lina laughed.

"To think someone as pathetic and grovelling as you believes they deserve it, is an insult to this house, to our name," removing her foot with a rough push, Lina stamped it on the floor over Flaxon's glasses from where they fell; shattering them.

"Now piss off." Feinting another kick, Lina scoffed when Flaxon clambered to his feet, roughly trying to put himself back together.

Flaxon's lips pursed to the extent they became white, but he said nothing and instead twisted sharply on a heel and marched out the room, straight past a stern-faced woman.

"Spare me the lecture," Lina held up a hand when the woman tented her fingers, pointing them to the floor "Leave." Ordering the woman away, Lina's cheeks puffed with air for a short time.

"If anyone was in doubt before," Eric spoke up, making Lina turn to face him "They would back you to take the seat after that." Holding the back of the settee, Eric drummed his fingers on it.

Holding one hip, Lina shook her head "That was nothing," she uttered "The last time we met I made his horse throw him off," shrugging carelessly, Lina smiled when Eric stared back in a short moment of surprise.

Coming around to take a seat, Lina clasped her hands together, focusing on the ring on her finger - her mother's ring.

"From that exchange, I ascertained your life has been spent," Marcus rubbed a finger and thumb together in thought, searching for an appropriate word "Frivolously."

There was a suggestion of insult being made within Marcus's comment, some were taken, but Lina could not blame Marcus for his conclusion with how the exchange unfolded.

"I spent more time in the airfields than in anyone's beds," Lina snubbed the suggestion "That was mere rhetoric slandering," she curled up her legs, resting her head against the arm balanced on the back of the settee.

Marcus smiled, but tried to hide it behind his hand "In the airfields, making those tumbles and rolls?"

Staring back at Marcus sharply, Lina picked up finally that he was teasing, rather than making unflattering assumptions of her younger years.

"If you two could stop with the flirting," Eric cut in, laying a hand on his stomach "I would like to keep my appetite for this promise as mentioned earlier of lunch,"

Glancing back at Eric with a slow smile, Lina kept her silence.

For the time they would need to spend in London, Lina wanted it spent wisely and seeking whatever information could be gained.

It was for that purpose that Lina brought along Eric.

Marcus would be needed as Lina's company during any formal functions. Eric could execute the freedom allowing him to search for anything and everything that could aid them in their hunt.

With John's death and Elijah's arrest, they were both back to square one and freer to move than before.

Both a boon and a bane, they needed to press the short advantage they held.

Elijah was only going to be kept locked up for a few months, and every one of those days needed to count. 


	36. Cufflink Scandals

Scandal would run amok should it be known that Lina was entangled with a man who was not her fiancé.

Living apart as they were, taking a lover before they even met at the aisle would be the gossip on every well to do person' lips for decades to come should anyone suspect that Marcus was more than polite company Lina kept.

For this reason, while in attendance, of Kensington Palace, Marcus was strictly told to remain in the guest quarters overnight.

A lapse allowed only when a social accord called for it.

Which was why Lina was standing in front of Marcus, brushing away invisible lint from the dinner jacket she bought him.

"You do know the basic rules of dinner etiquette, don't you?" Lina could not afford to be embarrassed if Marcus used a salad fork for the entree of that evening's dinner party.

Marcus didn't move much as Lina fussed around and inspected every detail of his attire "Work from the outside in," he regaled "Pass only to the left." He added.

Satisfied, Lina held out both arms, palm side up in a display of how she needed Marcus to stand for a moment.

When Marcus held out both arms, Lina retrieved the jeweller's box that she left on the small table.

Opening it, Lina took out the simple silver cuff links from the velvet cushion.

"Keep conversation polite. No political views unless asked, and for the love of God, don't ask anything personal," Lina listed off the do's and don'ts while fasting Marcus's sleeve cuffs.

Satisfied by the simple yet elegant floral design, Lina flicked a finger to one "Those are Georg Jenson by the way. Don't even think about losing one."

Able to obtain the cuff links from the Denmark born designer, Lina found that her known engagement allowed certain privileges with the country.

Slipping two fingers between the cuff and the wrist, Marcus nodded "I wasn't planning on losing them," he smiled, though it was faint "You seem quite worked up about this. Why?"

One neatly pencilled eyebrow lifting, Lina needed to stop herself from laughing at Marcus's question - instead, she sighed.

"Navigating a dinner party with the pantheon of British aristocracy is like going into battle," Lina illuminated "You have no idea what you're about to face. Who has pulled a grenade pin, or where the bombs are going to drop. It's hell. Utter, abysmal, hell." Sweeping a hand as if it underlined her point, Lina tried to break the tension from her shoulders by rolling them.

Thankful to be wearing a dress that covered the shoulders, Lina did not have to worry about any questions arising over the stitching on her shoulder.

Neckline scooped to the décolletage; it continued into a split that finished above the navel, before continuing into a flowing satin dress.

Hair swept up into playful, yet not too immature, curls, the fringe covered the still healing skin from Lina's misfortunate meeting with the taps.

Coupled with simple, elegant waterfall earrings and a thin chain-link bracelet - it was the most elegant Lina was dressed in months.

Cupping under Lina's chin, Marcus brought up her head a little "Are you sure that is not an over-exaggeration?" He asked, showing faint amusement at her description of the night ahead.

Eyes downcast Lina brushed Marcus's hand away "Oh if only it were," she mumbled, bitterly "They're cutthroat. We will be watched like hawks, waiting for the slightest slip-up, before they swoop in and disembowel you."

Lina wished it were her being dramatic, but it was far from.

"Lady Edith dropped her glass of port by accident, so they declared her a drunk," Lina told the short tale "She hasn't dined with us since."

Marcus chuckled, placing his hands in the trouser pockets "I'm sure a few weeks will pass, and it will be forgotten." He reasoned.

Lina's arm crossed her waist, allowing the other to perch on it so her hand could be placed to her temple "That was Christmas 1930, Marcus. They never let you live anything down."

Openly surprised, Marcus peered back at Lina with short-lived dubiousness, before he settled back to his usual enigmatic mask; giving nothing and allowing nothing.

"Duly noted. Your flustering makes a little more sense," running a hand over the front of his dinner suit, Marcus soon looked across to Lina "You look beautiful, by the way,"

Accustomed to false compliments, Lina could tell that this one was sincere.

"Thank you," Lina took it in stride "You're looking rather handsome yourself," openly appreciating how Marcus looked in a tailcoat and matching waistcoat, Lina sidled in close to his side "Should chance allow," she lowered to a whisper when Marcus leant down, a hand on her lower back "I may have forgotten a few things while getting ready,"

Marcus's eyebrows raised in interest, as his mouth creased into a soft smirk "I imagine we should be fortuitous tonight," he mentioned, stroking a single finger down Lina's shoulder.

With a small, secretive smile Lina made ready to agree, and even propose a place of interest, but a sharp rap on the door whisked away the chance.

Stepping away cordially -not before sneaking a kiss- Lina clasped her hands at her front "Enter." Calling out that the door was free to open, Lina did not face the speaker.

"Pardon the intrusion, Your highness, sir," a young maid spoke with some palpable excitement "But I was sent to inform you that your fiancé, His highness, has arrived and is awaiting your presence,"

Aware that Lina was not showing the expected reaction by the young maids face, and the strain on her own eyes from how wide open they were, Lina stuttered from a breath.

"I'm sorry?" Lina tried to gain composure, a hand holding her stomach as it flip-flopped, the other stretched out with a shake of her head "Can you repeat that?"

The maid nodded, hands cupped at her front as she dropped into a polite bow "Yes, your highness..." she almost whispered "I was sent to tell you that your fiancé has arrived and is awaiting you in his quarters,"

A shaky, stressful laugh quivered Lina's voice, before declaring a little too loudly: "Fuck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Georg Jenson was a Danish silversmith, and a genuine designer.  
> He was born 1866 and died in 1935 and he was part of the Art Nouveau movement, or as in Denmark: Skønvirke (work of beauty)


	37. Shades of Green

For the evening to be described, cutthroat - was a true statement.

Coming under fire for everything from the false details of his early life, to how Marcus was there and not out on the frontlines, he parried continuously while trying to avoid causing insult.

Seated between the nobility of varying degrees of power, Marcus likened it to walking through a minefield - one misstep would be deadly.

In half a mind to be jealous that Eric secured an excuse to depart for the evening, the other was preoccupied with the dangerous waltzing of words.

"Tell me, Mr Buckler," a lady dressed in finery addressed Marcus tartly "How do you imagine we shall fare in this war?"

Curling a hand up to cover his mouth, Marcus excused himself from speaking for a second.

Long enough to consider how best to respond to what was positively the most ridiculous question for Marcus - of all people - to answer.

"Well, I imagine," Marcus reached for the wine glass, taking a small taste "We shall fare well, I should hope." Trying to remain diplomatic, and not step wrong and give clues to where his loyalty lay, Marcus smiled "And we haven't given up hope as of this moment,"

The lady smiled; it was wily.

"Quite," the gentleman to her left came into the conversation "I hear the French did not last long, this brute, Hitler, is lounging around Paris as we speak,"

"Preposterous, that again, France has folded before the real fighting has even started," another interjected, waving around the glass in her hand "Can't say I'm surprised mind you, it happened before, after all."

Finger tapping on a temple, Marcus listened vaguely to the diatribe of individuals who clearly never experienced war beyond what the newspapers told them.

"Speaking of, preposterousness, what do you think?" A woman, pretty of face and dark-haired pressed in on Marcus's shoulder, wine glass nested in both hands "About our little princesses engagement?"

Subtly nodding further up the table, the woman smiled, when Marcus took a few seconds longer to look.

For most of the night, since it was announced, Lina was forced to keep the company of her fiancé.

Whether able to hide it well, or sincerely enjoying one another's company, they were the picture of regality well chosen.

"Funny little thing, they should have already been wed by now," the woman was soft-spoken, a slight lisp on the end of her letters.

"But somehow word came in good time to warn her not to travel," She paused, oddly tantalising with it, as her breath hitched softly "Then two days before her arrival was due? Germany comes marching through Denmark's back door,"

Aware already of the circumstances that postponed the wedding and how Marcus faked intrigue "That is a little too convenient to be a coincidence, isn't it?"

The woman appeared delighted that Marcus agreed, leaning in even closer he looked down when a hand fell on his thigh.

"Then it just so happens her brother offs himself the moment words come out that he aided the Germans with some coordinates of our ships," she sipped casually on the wine using a single finger to trace the inner side of Marcus's thigh. "Yet another coincidence?"

Certainly interested in what the woman had to say, though without clarifying it and as of yet no manner to do so, Marcus was not as interested in the woman's subtle advances.

Carefully closing a hand around the woman's when she came in a little too close, Marcus dropped it in the space between them.

"Should you be so loose with your tongue as you are with your morals?" Marcus whispered when the woman looked back at him in abject horror.

Obviously not one often refused, the woman sneered at Marcus, morphing the pretty face to something somewhat off-putting.

"Like I would have let you be so lucky." Hissing back, the woman swept the hair from her shoulder.

"I think my luck running out was quite fortunate for me this evening, then." Marcus returned calmly, a finger idly stroking the stem of his wine glass.

Head tilted to allow a sweeping side glance of the woman when she twisted in the chair, Marcus put up his arm to block the incoming wine she intended to tip over his head - sending it spilling back over herself.

On any other occasion, Marcus would have been most apologetic - but not this time.

Standing with a shrill cry, the woman's dress was hiked up on one side, the man seated on the same side, withdrawing his hand from the woman's legs in a startle.

Utterly confused, Marcus was forced to look away as his hand gripped the corners of each eye.

The disruption to the meal was profound, loud yells and gasps running up and down the table, it was the woman on the other side of the hands-on gentleman, that turned it towards even more of a debacle.

Dropping the hand down to rest the finger and thumb on his cheekbones, Marcus breathed out deeply into the palm; looking up at the table.

Meeting Lina's confused gaze, Marcus managed only a small shake of the head.

Forced to stand when the two women - one presumably the man's wife - started to argue with more than a show of words, Marcus took a further step back when they collided with the table, stepping on someone.

"What the hell have you done?!" Lina accused in a stressed whisper, pushing Marcus off the hem of her dress.

On the contrary to the accusation, Marcus had done nothing.

"This was not my doing," Marcus refuted sharply when a hand came around his arm, pulling him away from the epicentre of the commotion when the servers tried to intervene.

Dragged to one side of the room while it was enthralled in a catfight of magnitude, Marcus was forced to face Lina with a sharp tug on the lapel of the dinner jacket.

Far from appreciative of the rough handling, Marcus started to object but stopped when Lina swooped up for a kiss.

At once alarmed by the brazenness, Marcus made to peel away from Lina.

They could not afford to be caught, for Lina's sake.

"We are behind a curtain," Lina pointed over Marcus's shoulder "Have some faith in me,"

Possible that Lina knew already the argument Marcus was about to make, he relaxed a little.

"What happened?" Lina asked, smoothing over the upset she created on his jacket.

Marcus wasn't even sure where to begin answering Lina's question, but he considered parting with the small detail the woman offered Marcus.

"If she is to be believed, she said that your brother was accused of handing over allied ship coordinates to the Germans," careful not to go beyond a whisper, Marcus picked up the tension his words created within Lina's hands where they laid on his chest.

Face an impenetrable mask, Lina withdrew from Marcus a step "I can't imagine that is what started this charade unless you said something?"

Dodging over the topic of Vilem - wisely - Lina wanted more details on how the conundrum that sounded to still be in only its second act, came around.

"She became a little too hands-on," Marcus admitted, hiding a smile when Lina's brow pinched "Apparently I was not the only one who was, in her sights, shall we say."

Mouth pinched over to one side, Lina said nothing for a short time, and it left Marcus wondering if it was some show of jealousy from her.

"Did you refuse her?" Lina asked, a slight biting edge in her tone.

Thinking back to previous occasions where Lina boldly stated she was in bed with Elijah still, Marcus took a little amusement from her permeating attitude.

"What was that saying?" Marcus hummed "If the shoe were on the other foot?" Not overly familiar with English expressions, Marcus picked up enough to know he used that one perfectly.

Far from impressed, Lina shot Marcus with a withering stare.

"Are you also familiar with flogging a dead horse?" Lina shot back "Because you carry on, and you will be exactly that."

Frankly, it was not one Marcus knew, but he felt that whatever follow up was coming would not be great.

"I am not with that one," Marcus shook his head.

Lina smiled, it was sarcastically sweet "Pointless. It means something to be pointless," she prodded his chest "And you will be exactly that, to me."

Making to step around Marcus and leave their cover of the heavy set drapes, he caught Lina's forearm.

"Is this jealousy I am witnessing?" Far from done with teasing Lina on the matter, Marcus guided her back gently "From the woman casually taking dinner with another man right in front of me?"

Marcus knew precisely which saying fitted the situation, Lina had used it on him once before "Pot calling the kettle black, now?"

Mouth fluttering to retort, Lina closed it with a snap.

Seeing the opportunity, Marcus lent down, grazing a kiss on Lina's lips, it softened a little to reciprocate.

"You mentioned that you should have a chance to allow..." Marcus tailed off from the reminder of the conversation they had earlier that evening.

No one was looking for them, and they were considerably hidden.

Reluctant, but slowly giving in to the smile that wanted to be known, Lina slimmed her fingers up until they were nestled behind the lapels of the dinner jacket.

"Well," Lina murmured bringing Marcus in closer with carefully taken steps back, she stopped when her shoulder knocked into the wall "There is another saying that could be deemed appropriate for this moment,"

Listening, though not entirely, Marcus caught Lina when she wrapped both arms around his shoulder and raised her legs to fold around her waist.

Dress rumpled up around the top of Lina's thighs, Marcus could see that she certainly had forgotten something while getting dressed.

Taking little time to undo the belt, Marcus bit lightly on the skin of Lina's neck as she caressed him, drawing out a low elongated groan deep from his chest.

"Strike while the iron is hot, as they say," Lina purred into Marcus's ear with a breathy laugh.

More than ready to make the proverbial strike, Marcus stopped when Lina pushed a hand between their chests.

Thinking that they were to be discovered, Marcus was only thrown into confusion when Lina tightened her grip on him, holding him in place.

"They also say, don't bite the hand that feeds you." Lina smiled when the hand she held him in, became a little more pinching.

Curling forward while trying to come free of the grasp, Marcus's teeth ground together "You English have far too many sayings."

Slowly relaxing the handling, Lina wore a short amused smirk "We do, we do," adopting a more soothing tone, it mimicked the motion of her hand.

A little more reassured that there would be no second attack, Marcus relaxed when Lina allowed him to return the favour in kind.

Fingers of her free hand curled tightly to the back of Marcus's neck; their mouths didn't quite meet as their breaths became hot and heavy.

"Niederknien," Lina ordered in a wanton moan, lowering her legs to reach the floor again, Marcus let them go.

Kneeling, as Lina asked, Marcus, waited only a few short seconds to find out why.

Placing a leg over his shoulder, Marcus moved closer, kissing up the inside of her thigh until finding the centre and letting his tongue do the talking.

Lina bit down on her lip, fingers wild in his hair, Marcus held her by the hips when her standing leg threatened to buckle.

"Fick mich, Marcus," again demanding, Marcus adjusted himself.

Taking Lina's leg from his shoulder, Marcus pulled the back of the knee on the other, bringing Lina onto his lap, catching her before it became an actual fall.

Heatedly on one another, Lina arched back, holding Marcus's thighs as she rolled her hips with much more enthusiasm than she had ever before.

Holding Lina by the waist, Marcus watched her body's movement, it was tantalising, and increasingly demanding of her want to finish.

Whether it was pure frustration from their being apart, or that she was, in fact, jealous, Marcus could not be specific - but what he was confident of, was that it was the first time Lina had called his name.

Sliding his hands around to Lina's back when she knotted her hands at the back of Marcus's neck and laid her forehead to his, their eyes locked.

Mouth closed to keep anyone from hearing them, Lina relaxed her hands to bring them around and cup Marcus's face.

The night was far from over, even with the scene caused, Marcus knew that there was still more to be endured by watching Lina flirt with the man she would have to marry.

It didn't sit well with Marcus, but he knew already there was nothing that could be done, he would have to wait his time.

Soon, Marcus's climax arrived with a shuddering roll of Lina's hips, his fingers clawing at the back of her dress.

Placing back a hand to support himself, a curious gaze held Lina as she swept back her hair from where it came loose.

Skin flushed, breathing out of rhythm; they stayed put, neither seeming in a hurry to move.

Marcus's brow knotted, a hand reaching to take hold on Lina's face, she moved as he wanted her to.

Risky as they already had been, Marcus wanted to savour the moment a little longer.

Laying down, Marcus ran his fingers through Lina's hair as their mouths met tenderly, holding her tightly against him.

Not caring that Lina would need a reason to excuse the ruffled appearance, Marcus kept stroking his fingers through until her hair was free of the updo and spilt down her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> niederknien - kneel down


	38. Garden Light Talks

Seemingly exempt from the rules of the blackout, Lina walked the pristinely kept gardens in silent festering.

Marcus's apparent insistence on taking out the hard work of Lina's hair left her in a slight predicament.

There was no time to fix it back, and so, when stepping out from the hiding spot behind the curtain, Lina told Marcus to stay behind until the dining room was empty.

That, at least, had been the plan.

* * *

**-x-**

* * *

Continuing to exchange short kisses, they failed to pay mind to the dining room's departed commotion.

It was silent of the shouting and shrill screaming and was down to a handful of party members talking.

"Aren't we missing someone?" A lady asked, and it sounded like the Marquis, her years of heavy smoking leaving behind a recognisable rasp in her voice.

Things would not bode well should anyone think to pull back the curtains.

"Two. We are missing two people." Flaxon concurred loudly, making sure to stress that there were two people absent from the dining room.

As Lina was in that moment, there was no way to come out and not raise red flags for all about what they were up to a mere ten paces away.

Facing Marcus with apprehension, it was short-lived - the windows.

They were on the ground floor, and the drop was not more than two or three feet.

Taking Marcus by the wrist, Lina steered them both towards the large sash window.

"It will make too much noise," Marcus reasoned, but still standing like Lina at one end and prepared to hoist it up.

Lina shook her head "If we do it in time, it won't," Though she said it, it was only running on a theory, and hope.

Marcus did not look convinced, but he didn't develop an alternative for them to avoid being found.

Silently counting to three, they lifted the sash window in unison. It creaked, whispering softly as the wood brushed the window joints.

They only needed it open enough to slip under it, which was a whole lot less for Lina than it was Marcus.

Once the gap was wide enough, Lina ducked under, bringing a leg over to straddle the windowsill while maintaining the space.

"Climb through," beckoning Marcus; a shuffle back allowed him more space as she was asking.

With his face balanced delicately between finding the scenario funny and stressful, Marcus laid himself flat on the ledge of the window, sliding across far enough to be able to hold the windowsill and bring down his legs.

Standing once more, Marcus took over holding the window, a hand offered to help Lina down, and she flicked off her heels first.

Landing with a dull thud, Lina ducked down when Marcus put a hand on her head, carefully but swiftly lowering the window until it closed with a slight thump.

Pressed flat to the wall under the window, Lina's heart pulsed when faint voices filtered through the glass.

Far too close a call, Lina only started to breathe again when Marcus took great care and checked that they were in the clear.

Climbing the wall to stand again, Lina put out a hand in a silent request for Marcus's help to keep her balanced while slipping back into the heels.

"That is the only time we do that," Lina declared with a small grin, checking their surroundings before running a hand through her hair.

Marcus cocked his head, scratching behind an ear "Climb through windows?" He asked, seemingly serious.

Eyes set into a roll, Lina folded her arms "Need a reason to climb through windows," she countered, though it came with a satisfied smile.

Lina wasn't sure when she became more daredevil with her trysting, but it certainly added a new and more exhilarating element.

* * *

**-x-**

* * *

"That was quite the spectacle, wasn't it?" Knud conferred, subtler in his viewpoint than others over the mess that became of dinner.

Walking arm in arm, it had been Knud doing most of the talking "Certainly made the Christmas port spill tame by comparison," she agreed with a little smile.

Tall and handsome, Knud was also a gentle and kind man.

Their engagement was a long one, and mostly spent apart, the small flame that could have been was not there.

They got along impressively well, but beyond that, there was nothing more. They were more like good friends than soon to be husband and wife.

"To think, should this war not have spilt into our borders," Knud stopped walking, laying a hand over Lina's where it held his arm "We would have been wedded six months already,"

It was October?

Somehow lost on the passage of time, Lina calculated how much longer it was until she was expected to return to service.

The end of the month, on the 31st - Halloween.

"Is something the matter?" Knud asked, bringing them to a stop beneath an oak tree; its branches decorated by candlelight hung in mason jars.

Aware that her mind was preoccupied, Lina shook her head "Nothing. Well...something," she mentioned, deliberating how best to word the question without passing insult.

Knud sighed, unfurling their arms until their hands were lightly held together, he led them to a small bench beneath the tree.

"You're wondering how I came to be here," pinching up his trousers he sat with a sigh "Aren't you?"

Beaten to the point, Lina shamefully smiled "I am. How did you manage to get here when Denmark is occupied as we speak?" There was no chance that their German occupiers would have allowed the Hereditary Prince to leave of his own accord.

Knud smiled; it was sly, and most certainly cheeky.

"Well, my dear," he sat back, stretching an arm across the backrest of the bench "That would be a gallant little tale of falsifying my name and giving them the slip while impersonating one of theirs,"

Lina would not deny that it was an impressive little tale "Quite the cunning fox, aren't we?" Musing the matter, Lina looked out across the grounds.

There were couples, and clusters, some standing on their own.

Everything was as if there was no war to speak of.

"Lina?" Knud stroked back a section of hair, tucking it behind one ear "Are you having second thoughts?"

Second thoughts were not precisely the issue Lina was having, but there was no way she could define the problem without coming clean on the cause of her reservations.

"No, it's not that," Lina turned, unwittingly placing her face within Knud's hand "More so that things are not exactly as they should be,"

Knud rubbed his thumb across Lina's cheek, a sympathetic smile coming to life "I'm sure things will be resolved soon," he sounded hopeful, but the glint in his eyes said otherwise.

This war was not going to be over anytime soon, Lina knew it in her gut, and they were only past the year mark.

Wickedly, Lina wanted the war to drag out - the longer it did, the longer her wedding was delayed.

"I imagine they have told you already," Knud took away his hand, placing it over Lina's "But they have arranged to hold the wedding here at the end of the week,"

Immobile, Lina could only stare back at Knud. No mention, hint or whisper was made to Lina that they were attempting to push the wedding through sooner.

There was an agreement drawn up that it would be postponed till the war was over.

Was this the reason Lina was summoned back?

"End of the week?" Lina needed to be sure that there was no chance that she misheard Knud.

Slowly, with signs of hesitation, Knud nodded "October 14th, this coming Monday," he repeated with a little more detail "You don't seem pleased by this?" He added, head in a tilt when Lina looked away.

Pleased?

Lina was the entire other end of the spectrum.

"Sorry," Lina whispered, doing her best to keep the tremble of her building temper at bay "It's not that. No one told me, until now," trying to put Knud at ease, Lina stood shakily when a face came into view across the topiary.

Champagne flute in hand, Flaxon raised it in some show of salutation.

"Charles mentioned that he was yet to tell you," Knud spoke up, coming to stand at Lina's side, "I asked him to delay so that I could do it,"

Furiously blinking away the tears budding, Lina could see that he was waiting for her to react, the smile he bore goading.

Tenderly Knud placed a hand on Lina's lower back, stepping around until they were face to face.

"I'm supposed to return to service at the end of the month," Lina informed Knud, entirely lost on how to take the news of their soon to be wedding.

Knud's brow formed a gentle crease "Once we are married you have no need too," taking her face in both hands, he wiped away the tears that came free "I have no intention of becoming a widower before I can even be a proper husband,"

Internally Lina was screaming, both in rage and mourning.

This could not be happening, not now, not yet.

Lina wasn't ready to take the walk.

"I know this is sudden, but I promise we will be happy," Knud whispered gentle assurance, entirely oblivious to why Lina was upset.

Taking hold on Knud's wrists, Lina breathed out slowly "I'm just a little overwhelmed. I did not expect this to come about so soon," excusing away the reaction as surprise, she forced a smile.

The date could not have been any more a coincidence - October 14th was not only the date of Lina's soon to be wedding but Marcus's birthday.


	39. Ich nehm' das Beste von uns mit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> https://youtu.be/GUuT1tLqHHg  
> Chapter Title: Ich nehm' das Beste von uns mit - I'll take the best of us with me

When Lina said that they would not be meeting again, Marcus did not expect her to take it literally.

Standing beside a window in the guest quarters - which were almost self-contained - Marcus watched another delivery van come in through the delivery gate.

The Palace had undoubtedly been a hive of activity, maids and more senior staff would whisper in the wings but fall silent and turn away when Marcus came in close to their proximity.

More than aware that something was afoot, Marcus was yet to ascertain what.

The rustling of paper, and the swish of a page being turned, Marcus glanced briefly at Eric sitting in an armchair.

"You haven't figured it out yet, have you?" Eric droned, somehow always managing to sound bored no matter the topic.

Returning to watch the delivery being unloaded, Marcus would not deny that he held a worrisome theory as to what was going on.

"You're going to tell me even if I don't," Marcus turned away from the window, crossing his ankles while resting on the wall.

Eric snapped the paper, making it fold back "Good grief man," he sniped "Are you that deep in denial or dull of mind?"

Disliking the implications of Eric's choice of words, but all the same reluctant to take the bait and bite back, Marcus merely stared back at Eric - waiting.

Meeting the stare head-on, it looked for a time that neither would bow to the other; until Eric clucked his tongue and snapped the paper straight again.

"Your birthday Monday isn't it?" Eric inquired, the question odd.

Checking the small calendar on the desk, Marcus had barely paid attention to how much time had passed.

"It is," not sure why his birthday was of any relevance to what everyone was keeping tight-lipped about, Marcus returned to focus on Eric.

Lips pursed, Eric tossed down the paper, leaning over the arm of the chair "Well happy birthday, that is to be her wedding day," delivering the news coldly, Eric ran his fingers stressfully over the pinch of his brow.

Marcus knew that he knew, but did not expect that he would bury it so deep to the extent of outright denial.

There was no secret made that Lina was engaged to be wed - but it was not supposed to happen so soon.

Heart in an uncomfortable stillness, the confirmation from Eric left Marcus far too short of breath.

Why had Lina not at least told Marcus?

Instead, choosing to hide away and be intentionally absent since the night of the dinner party almost five days before.

There was now only two days left until the nuptials would take place.

"How is it, you know, and I don't?" Marcus asked quaintly, being sure to retain composure.

Head coming out of the hand, Eric gave Marcus a dull-eyed smile "It's my job to know things." He retorted "That and that all the wedding planning going on was a dead give away," he added with a sarcastic gesture, sweeping both hands across the air.

Using a hand to cover up his eyes, Marcus massaged them, until Eric spoke up and it sprung away.

"She's in the west wing, its the final fitting for her dress today," Eric let the information slip as though he was talking to himself, eyes fixed on the floor as he did.

Before Eric even mentioned that it was the final fitting at the door, Marcus departed the room with one goal in mind.

* * *

**-x-**

* * *

Standing on the footstool, Lina tried to avoid the miserable face staring back from the reflection; but with so many mirrors surrounding it was hard to avoid.

Knelt and pinning up the hem for the final alterations, the seamstress talked happily, far more cheerfully than Lina was able to feel about standing in a wedding gown.

Efforts thwarted to postpone, Lina was left with only two choices.

Wed Knud on Monday, or denounce her titles.

Lina was not particular to the titles afforded by her birth, but it was the unspoken truth should she sign them away.

There would be no entitlement to the money, her home.

Lina would be left not only destitute but homeless should she fail to follow through with the wedding.

Trapped, Lina didn't know which way to turn, and no one could rescue her from the cruel choices being forced upon her.

Swallowing hard, difficultly, Lina forced a smile when a maid complimented the dress and how she looked in it - but it didn't stop the tear that slipped down her cheek.

The door of the room assigned for the fitting knocked, Lina wiped away the evidence of her anguish before waving a maid to answer it.

"Oh? Sir, you can't be here." The maid half shouted "Sir. Please leave!"

Fingers clawing in the dress's lace front, Lina kept staring straight ahead when the mirrors reflected who barged their way into the room.

Wanting to avoid the conversation that was about to come, Lina made every effort to stay out of Marcus's way.

"Sir, you need—?"

"—It's ok." Lina dismissed the maids' efforts to make Marcus leave "Can you give us a moment."

Asking to be alone, Lina stepped off the stool.

There was a reservation to listen, but after clapping her hands and acting a little more firmly for them to comply, they shuffled from the room.

  
Chest achingly tight, Lina avoided meeting Marcus's eyes, instead pulling off the band that kept the veil on her head and tossing it aside.

"Never thought this day would come," Lina laughed, it was tinged in sadness "But here I am. A soon to be bride," Stating the facts, Lina drew in a sharp breath to keep her from buckling.

"So?" Lina fanned out the dress with both hands, swaying a little to make it float "What do you think?"

* * *

**-x-**

* * *

From the moment Marcus caught sight of Lina up on the stool, dressed in white silk and lace, there came a divide in his mind.

Marcus's breath choked him from how beautiful Lina looked in the wedding gown.

On clearing the lump from his throat, Marcus was met with the reality that she was not wearing it for him.

"What do I think?" He repeated in disbelief "What am I meant to think?"

Watching Lina drop the dress's edges and shrug in reply, Marcus's hands curled into tightly wound fists.

Was Lina intentionally trying to be cruel?

"Simple," Lina answered, "Does it look good or not?"

Dumbfounded, Marcus shook his head, trying to come to some understanding of what Lina's aim was.

"It does," Marcus voiced his thoughts, he couldn't deny that it was breathtaking on her "But you and I both know you don't want to wear it, not for him."

Lina frowned "We," she stressed the word "Know that I don't?" She questioned, strangely sharp "Tell me, Marcus, what the hell do you know about what I want?"

So, Lina wanted an argument. To use the deadliest weapon she held; her words.

More than aware of how vicious her tongue could become, Marcus was a little more thick-skinned than any man she turned it on, and he wasn't going to let her obtain the result she wanted.

"I know you don't want to get married. Not to him." Marcus responded dryly "That your ridiculous pride and refusal to stand aside for your cousin is leading you into a marriage that you know you will spend the rest of your life regretting,"

Lina cowed back; it was slight, barely perceived.

"Many people spend their lives married and miserable. What does it matter," she threw up a hand as if to brush off Marcus's point "And this is not a matter of my pride. It never has been."

Marcus walked forwards, halting sharply when Lina retreated.

"You're lying to me, and yourself. I thought we agreed that there would be no lies?" Marcus could tell that a direct approach would only make Lina hide behind her defences more staunchly, so he hoped that taking a softer edge would make her see reason.

"Lies? Like the ones you spouted about being rescued by my brother?" Lina laughed back "Don't pretend that you know anything about me—?!"

"—Pretend. I'm the one pretending to know you?" Marcus didn't care about interrupting, but he kept his tone controlled when he did "You barely even know yourself. You have spent so much time hiding behind this mask, acting like nothing hurts you, that you don't care, or don't love." Listing off each thing, Marcus used his fingers to count them off, practically thrusting them in Lina's face.

Lina stood stiffly, eyes wide and brimming her jaw clenched fiercely - Marcus was getting through to her, even if only a little.

"What can you offer me, Marcus?" Lina didn't even seem to be breathing when she spoke.

"You can't stay, and I can't go with you." Lina whimpered "There is no future with us, and I can't handle that."

This time, Marcus seized up.

"If I don't do this, I will have nothing. My title doesn't mean shit, Marcus. But I will be left penniless and homeless. This isn't a choice I have made, because I have none!" Lina's voice raised, ending it in a shout.

"I don't want this. I don't want to be married to a man I can't love, or even pretend that I do," progressively her voice raised, once more her fingers rigid and straight, thumping on her chest.

Finally, it looked as if the walls were coming down - crashing around Lina.

"I meant it when I said I cared for no one other than Vilem and my father," she cried "Because no one other than them cared for me. They all only wanted my money, my status, anything they could take from me, they took."

Never expecting such an emotionally fuelled display from Lina, it left Marcus speechless.

"I have never been looked at as more as something to fuck or get a foot on the god damn social ladder," Lina was crying, trying desperately not to crumble "No one has ever tried to see, me."

Clasping both hands over her eyes, Lina continued to vent through the gaps between.

"So I took that. I took it and made it mine to control. The only damned thing in my life I have ever been allowed to control without restraint is my body, it was the only thing that was mine, and now, now even that isn't mine to have."

Lina sprung the hands away from her face, dignity no longer an intense facet she was trying to keep.

"Then, you came along." Lina laughed; it was bittersweet.

"The only man I have ever known, who wanted nothing from me, who didn't care that I wear a title, or had money," she was shaking profusely in the battle to stay in some figurative control.

"And I can't have you," Lina wrapped her arms around herself, hugging her body tightly.

Standing so tensely, it made taking a step difficult, clumsy even; but Marcus managed to reach Lina before she crumpled to the floor.

Bringing Lina in close, tighter to him than he ever had, Marcus cupped the back of her head as she cried into his chest.

“Ich passe auf dich auf,” Marcus promised, placing a firm kiss on her head “Wenn du mich lässt,”

Fingers clawed in his shirt, Lina shook her head “Warum bist du nicht einfach gegangen?”

Once more Lina asked Marcus why he didn't just leave, a subtle hint that all of this could have been spared if Marcus had only done as she asked all those months before.

"weil ich dich Liebe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Ich passe auf dich auf,” - "I (will) take care of you,"  
> “Wenn du mich lässt.” - "If you let me."  
> “Warum bist du nicht einfach gegangen?” - "Why didn't you just go?"  
> “weil ich dich liebe.” - "because I love you."


	40. Wedding Bells

_Monday, 14th October 1940._

* * *

Lina's wedding day.

The ceremony was to start at half seven that evening.

Taking her mother's wedding ring from her finger in preparation for the one that Knud would place upon her finger, it was placed on a chain to be Lina's something old.

For blue, Lina's bouquet held Aster, a flower representing patience, elegance and peace and in both Germanic and English folklore believed to have magical properties.

Aster also stood for afterthought and wishing things to go differently - an irony not missed by Lina.

The something borrowed came in the tiara that held Lina's veil in place in her hair, gifted by her soon to be mother in law, Queen Alexandrine of Denmark and Iceland.

For New, Lina was gifted an exclusive jewellery collection - made just for her wedding.

Everything was all set, and all Lina was left to do was walk down the aisle to her waiting husband to be.

Standing arm in arm with Danny whom Lina asked to walk her down in replacement of her father, and over the chance to allow Flaxon to drive the final knife in, Lina exhaled shakily.

Danny didn't speak.

Saying neither encouragement nor making an ill-timed joke. He was silent, far quieter than he had ever been.

Somehow, it was far more comforting not to have Danny speak.

Heart in her throat, Lina jumped a little when the music started.

This was it, Lina's freedom to choose was about to be stolen, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Two ushers stood either side of the double doors awaiting the music's queue to open them and unveil Lina to those seated and waiting to catch a glimpse of the bride.

Grateful for the veil and that it would hide the tears that streamed from her eyes, Lina stepped when Danny applied pressure on their connected arms, telling her that it was time.

Pulling her shoulders back and standing straight, Lina glided as practised, looking straight ahead and not at the guests seated in rows.

Ahead and dressed in the finery and formal attire of his country, stood Knud.

Turning slowly to await Lina the smile on Knud's face twisted her gut sharply.

Knud was not a bad man, and he deserved a woman who would, and could love him.

A woman that was not Lina.

From the periphery, Lina found the twisted smirking mouth of Flaxon, and it made her tears come more potent and more fiercely.

Like hot salty knives were stabbing the corners of Lina's eyes.

The only detail of the agreement that was kept was that Lina was to have birthed an heir within two years of her wedding day or succeed her seat to Flaxon.

Forced to choose between destitution or marriage and baring a child that would only be wanted by one, Lina never before needed the calming presence of her father, or the crass inappropriately timed jokes of Vilem.

If they were alive, this would not be happening.

They were halfway down the aisle, only a few more steps to go until Danny would hand Lina over to Knud and seal her fate for good.

There was still so much Lina needed to do.

Settling down was not part of Lina's plan for herself, not for how young she was.

Tongue flicking across her lips, it collected the salty glossing of the tears as the sensation of someone watching with intense focus became more than just a tickle as it was from the start.

Lina knew she had not missed that Marcus was sitting in the back row alongside Eric; she saw Marcus as she stepped through the door and closed the chapter of her old life and self.

Frightened when Danny's arm left Lina's and cupped lightly under her hand, she almost stopped moving.

Led to Knud in an elegant sweep, Danny departed and walked to take his front-row seat.

Standing opposite sides of the dais, Lina forced a smile when Knud whispered that she looked beautiful.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today," the priest started speaking, the sermon began.

Blotting out the passages of text and speech that were signing away Lina's life, her attention only came back when it was time to exchange the vows and rings.

Knud stepped forward, lightly taking Lina's trembling hand, he squeezed it, stroking the knuckles with his thumb.

The smile on Knud's face was warm, loving and just what was expected of a groom on his wedding day.

Under the veil, Lina was weeping and sorrowful, mourning rather than rejoicing.

"I, Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark..." as rehearsed, Knud was beguiling as he enunciated each word, some words bringing out his accent.

Aligning the white gold band and preparing to slip it on Lina's finger, a static silence filled the room.

Quiet, everything was so, so quiet.

The air tingled and buzzed, as though it knew something no one else did.

Sucking in a breath when Knud brushed the ring over Lina's finger, she found it was cold on her skin, foreign and unwelcome.

Knud squeezed Lina's hand, brushing the band he placed upon it with a promise to love and hold until death did they part.

It was Lina's turn.

Handing over the bouquet to a lady in waiting, Lina took the white gold band that was thicker but no less delicate than the one on her hand.

"I, Lina Mountbatten, Princess of Greece and Denmark..." Lina bestowed her name's honorifics with clear and precise enunciation, speaking without showing a quiver in her voice.

As Knud did for Lina only minutes before, Lina placed the ring on his finger.

The applause was rancour. Jovial and bliss-filled.

Lina felt neither of those things.

"You may now kiss the bride." The priest informed a sweet smile on his withered mouth.

Furiously wishing that this was all but a dream, Lina stood patiently as Knud lifted the veil, her smile weeping and forced, he seemed to misunderstand why she was crying.

Eyes closed, Lina tilted into the kiss as expected, and as she did, the underlying quiet broke.

No longer silent and holding the secrets on its tongue, it whispered them at first along with the extended low pitch that tickled uncomfortably on Lina's ears.

It was only a few seconds, not even half a minute until it found its voice. No longer in a humming whisper, it was screaming.

The sirens came, vibrating through Lina's body, warning them all of the air raid imminent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In doing my research for this, I found a piece of history that fitted far too well it is uncanny.  
> Monday 14th October 1940, at around 8:02pm an air raid warning came.  
> It became known as the Balham Underground disaster where approximately 64-68 people lost their lives.  
> Obviously, the locations are different, but this snippet of actual history actually fit so perfectly, it really was uncanny


	41. Und in Turbulenzen ein letzter leiser Kuss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title: And in turbulence, a last soft kiss

The lights hummed loudly, the generators all but worn out and incapable of maintaining the basement illuminations, the mechanical coughing of the machinery was near deafening.

With every bomb dropped dust and small chips of brick poured down on the people huddled in the one room, the shake of the earth swaying the building as though its foundation was on stilts.

There were cries of both fear, anguish and pain.

The warning came too late; the Luftwaffe was already above them when they sounded.

And a single moment could change everything.

No longer ivory white it became brushed in black and grey from wood smoke.

The train singed until all that was left were lace threads decorated in horrible melted, mangled beads; Lina clawed her fingers on the brick and mortar.

"Have you no humility?!" Forced to shout above the thunderous waves of The Luftwaffe's assault on the city, Lina was wild-eyed, mouth in a foul twist "There are people dead and dying, and all you care about is a god damn title?!"

The wounded ranged from tiny grazes to inevitable fatalities.

All around them was devastation, life bleeding out on a cold stone floor - and here Flaxon was, whining about Lina still taking air into her lungs.

Lina could not believe what she was hearing, every word and little detail turned her stomach, set her blood boiling.

Flaxon wobbled when the building did, stumbling around on his feet like a drunk "I was hoping you would be dead too, but alas, miracles don't often happen," there was no remorse on his tongue, no compassion in his eyes.

Flaxon didn't care about human life. Flaxon only cared about Flaxon.

Things were bleak, the onslaught relentless and the bombs sounded and felt more powerful.

"You wretched waste of flesh!" Lina curled back the hand from the wall, wanting nothing more than to throw it as a punch into Flaxon's smarmy little mouth - but the present was not the time for familial spats.

Among the wedding guests that were injured, was Lina's husband, Knud.

When the first bombs came, the roof took a direct hit, spilling brick and the heavy wooden beams down upon the dais.

Lina only knew that Knud was pulled free seconds after she was.

Buried under the collapsed roof, Knud laid over Lina - without a second consideration for himself - cradling her beneath his body.

What irony would it be to become a wife and a widow all within the same day?

A short while after being taken down to the basement, Lina wondered if the Astor's in the bouquet really did have magical properties - after all, people always said be careful what you wish for.

Unwilling to contend with Flaxon, Lina placed her interest elsewhere.

The room was abysmal, the guests and staff crying out in both silent and spoken pleas for it to be over.

Many never tasted war within the room. Their skins ashen, shaking like winter leaves in a brisk morning wind.

Equally pathetic as it was enthralling to watch the diversity of the reactions, the primary fight or flight instinct, Lina supposed that this was the amalgamation of human nature.

Those with power would use it to manipulate those less fortunate over those who were forced to be at their beck and call whether they wanted to or not.

Now, here, the classes that divided them severely, meant nothing, and still, the maids and those who served the house and the people cowering in its bowels stood firm and showed enviable resolve.

Ferrying from person to person to offer aid or comfort, they were the physical representation of the British attitude promoted within the media.

Keep calm and carry on.

Cautiously optimistic that it would be over soon, Lina started to search the sea of sooted, bloodied faces; some wore cracks in the unwanted masks made from their tears; others stared at nothing, their minds switched off.

Within the chaos of being freed then whisked away down the basement steps, Lina did not check who made it. Who was missing, or who, as some already were, was dead.

Covered in old sheets to lessen the stress on those who were inching ever closer to becoming another wrapped in cold, dirty linen they were laid on the floor or sat up against the walls; some supported by the people trying their utmost to keep them breathing a little longer.

There were faces Lina knew well, knew from passing, and others who were strangers.

None of those among the west end of the basement was anyone Lina was looking for, but it was not met with relief.

This was only one end of the gargantuan space, and there were more people elsewhere.

Picking a slow and steady path, Lina was forced to stop now and then when a shell falling quaked the ground, sending wine bottles and old barrels tumbling and smashing.

It was hell. Another form of hell.

Air thick, scented by scorched earth, wood and brick it perfumed the room, but it did not cover the stench of blood and death.

Lights buzzing and dimming, they were tossed into darkness for only a couple of seconds, but it was enough to stir further disarray.

Passing under one of the arches Lina entered what looked to be a small antechamber; the numbers here were the smallest almost segregated from everyone else.

Crouched to the wall with head bowed, Danny held a bundled cloth to his brow. Alive and wounded superficially, Danny barely raised his head when Lina entered the small space.

Resting on the wall, arms folded tautly, Eric fixed his state on the brick opposite.

Happy - elevated a little - to find them both alive, Lina understood that words at this moment would be worthless idle talk to disrupt their minds from what was going on.

Placing a hand on Eric's shoulder, Lina squeezed it once before letting go.

Eric did not speak, but his eyes flicked to a corner before moving back to the wall.

Finally, apprehension overtook the efforts to remain level headed.

Worrisome, frightened to find out who it was in the corner being tended to, Lina let her feet lead while her mind stayed lost.

Kneeling over and pressing the pinafore of her uniform over a hole in the man's stomach that refused to stop pouring, she looked over her shoulder when Lina approached.

Eyes drowned by the tears, auburn hair wild, the pinch of her mouth did not relax as Lina asked the silent question.

Circling Lina sunk to her knees, taking immense care to bring Knud's head into her lap.

There was no colour in Knud's face, not any colour that should have been there. Eyes once a handsome green were dulling and grey when they opened and found Lina's.

Fate was truly a cruel mistress.

Breaths hollow, Knud swallowed a few times, trying to find the air to speak.

"You...look...beautiful," needing great effort to talk, Knud's hand waved in the air, reaching for Lina she came forward to meet it, caring none for the slickness of the skin and only holding it tight.

"At least...I got-t-t—?!" A painful sounding cough wracked Knud's body, a gargling spray of red leaping from his lips.

It wasn't long.

"Ssh," Lina held tighter on his hand, bringing it to her face she set a firm kiss on the joints where their fingers crossed "It's going to be ok," wrapped up in the idea that Knud would be spared, Lina knew it would not be so.

Wiping away the ugly shade that painted Knud's mouth, Lina kept the hand cupping his face, stroking the thumb soothingly.

"Thank you," Knud spoke in a wheeze "Even if we never have more than this moment, I want you to know how happy you have made me,"

There was no lesson or classes in life to teach a person how to handle a shattering heart - and Lina's was splintering agonisingly at that moment.

"I-I-wanted longer," Knud's breathing was more a rattle, and Lina knew it was coming, drawing painfully closer "Jeg elsker dig så meget,"

Head thrown sharply against a shoulder, Lina scrunched her eyes closed.

Desperately trying not to weep, not let Knud's final moments be seeing Lina cry, her eyes opened when a single finger stroked over her cheek.

Weak and shaking, Knud stretched up an arm, bringing the hand against Lina's cheek she held it in place "jeg elsker også dig,' 'trembling over the words, Lina pressed a kiss to the palm of Knud's hand.

Life was inexplicably wicked, continually taking and taking and taking with little ever returned except for short moments that were over too quick.

Lina entered the chapel heavy-hearted and mournful. Knud waited with a heart full of love and a head filled with future dreams.

Yet, it was Lina who was the one unscathed and waiting to see a new day.

Lina could tell in the slack of Knud's arm that his suffering was done.

Jaw fixed firm Lina carefully laid Knud's hands over his chest, combing his hair back into some order, before brushing her thumbs down, closing the lids over his vacant and lifeless eyes.

Curled over Lina placed a kiss on Knud's forehead, holding his head in her hands a few seconds more.

Sitting up, Lina managed to catch a glimpse of the time on the maids watch.

9:02 pm - one whole hour Lina had gone from a bride to a wife, to a widow.

Years were meant to pass before Lina came to the final stage of wedded life - she made it an hour.

Lina laid Knud's head back upon the makeshift pillow with extra care, one last and final kiss set upon his face, and Lina needed to use the wall to stand again.

Hands and dress smeared in red Lina walked away in silence, continuing the search of the suddenly cavernous space she no longer stumbled when the ground rumbled, not even a flinch when an explosion left ringing in both ears.

Mindset, Lina moved her eyes around, searching every face, shadow and corner until what Lina was searching for came into view.

Hair no longer vibrant blonde but dusted grey and with matters of coppery brown, the blood dried and clumping in his hair, Marcus sat hunched over.

Arm stretched out the sleeve shredded, thin red vines twisted around the skin.

Coming to stand before Marcus, it took him some time to raise his head, and once he did, Lina swung into the slap, hitting Marcus hard enough that his head jarred to the left.

Hand searing, like it was scorched, Lina found the wrist caught in Marcus's grasp seconds before she swung it back.

Resentful for a reason Lina could not precisely pinpoint, Lina wanted to vent the fire in her chest.

It started as a smoulder, stoked and stoked until it was carnivorous in her chest. The flames lashing viciously at Lina's heart, smoking the breath out her lungs.

Kept in place by the hand on Lina's wrist, Marcus came to stand, forcing her head to angle back to meet with the blistering gaze.

Was Lina's anger misplaced? Misdirected?

Should it have been herself that Lina was enraged by?

Whichever it was, Lina didn't know, all that she did, was that she wanted to scream every vile word in her vocabulary arsenal at Marcus.

Slowly the grip on Lina's wrist became less for restraint and more for a display of comforting.

Dropping focus from Marcus to where he slowly cradled Lina's hand within his, the inferno in her chest spluttered, losing its heat.

Like a wave, cold and soothing, Lina's chest heaved when her breath came back home, whistling in honeyed tones to her lungs.

Closer to falling than walking, Lina hid her face in Marcus's chest, grasping tightly to him.

"Take all the time you need," Marcus soothed, running a hand down Lina's back, bringing her in close.

Pushing harder against Marcus's chest, Lina's scream became muffled in his skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Jeg elsker dig så meget.” - "I love you so much."
> 
> “jeg elsker også dig,” - "I love you too,"


	42. Let me be frank

Out of four hundred wedding guests, there were eighteen grievously wounded, and thirty  
dead.

Included among the deceased was Lina's husband, Knud. They were married no more than an hour.

With Kensington Palace near raised to the ground, they were moved to the Mountbatten owned apartments at Brook House, Mayfair.

Individually assigned an apartment each, Marcus found the property to be a gregarious show of the family money.

"Let me be frank," Eric rested an arm on the mantelpiece, running finger and thumb together like he was considering how best to start what felt like it would be a lecture.

In half a mind to tell Eric to leave or be quiet, Marcus held off from doing so - there could be some importance in what Eric was about to say.

Eric came off the mantelpiece, pacing behind the armchair, detailed with hand-stitched cushions.

"You are acting bitter and wounded by her decision to go through with the wedding," Eric stopped walking, flicking a dead-eyed look at Marcus "But what have you given her these last six months? Other than what's between your legs,"

The slight crassness did not remove Eric's question's biting tone, and neither did it prevent Marcus from thinking over its context.

Though it was true that Marcus felt considerably bitter about Lina going ahead with the marriage.

Marcus was less angry when Lina pinned him to the floor, broke his fingers, and blackmailed him. Even Elijah was merely a graze on his skin than the wedding.

"Let me answer that for you," Eric set off in a meandering stroll around the parlour "She has put a roof over your head, clothes on your back, and food in your stomach, and that isn't all-," he spun on a heel, facing Marcus "-,she provided your papers, gave you a full detailed history to use at your leisure when needed, taught you the intricacies of the language and culture so that you could pass with ease as an Englishman,"

The more Eric spoke, the less Marcus wanted to hear, and somehow he picked up on it far too quick.

"These last six months you were supposed to be helping her find out what happened to Vilem," Eric stated "I have been the one doing the legwork while you engage in a drama that would make Shakespeare's head spin in his grave,"

Eric's point was valid; somehow, things became less about searching for answers and more about wanting to spend time with Lina beyond the bedroom.

At some stage derailing from the objective, Marcus realised that he had become a little too comfortable and allowed one too many slips in judgement.

Falling in love happened to be one.

Eric appeared to have stopped talking only to let Marcus mill over and digest all that he said.

Did Marcus hold any right to be angry over Lina's wedding?

All Marcus had done for her so far was manage to get the home she lovingly tended torn apart.

Even Eric's earlier points, Marcus had somehow dismissed.

Without Lina's aid, Marcus could well have been starved to death or captured.

"Has that penny dropped?" Eric broke the quiet of the room, and it forced Marcus to look up at him.

Eyes rolling with a short shake of the head, Eric gave Marcus his back to take the stopper from a decanter of auburn liquid.

"If Lina did not marry, she would have been left with nothing. Which meant the luxuries you have been afforded would be no more," Eric poured out a considerable measure, dropping in a single ice cube with a clink on the glass.

"And in her current condition she can not afford to be left penniless with an enemy pilot under her known care," Eric made a half-turn, staring hard at the far wall.

Could Lina's motivation to marry Knud have been more than status and money?

If it was, Lina failed to convey that in the breakdown in the fitting room four days before.

"Known condition?" Was all that Marcus addressed out of all that Eric had to say, and the irritation of it showed in the pinch of Eric's brow.

After a moment, Eric's shoulders sagged in time with a long and agonised sigh, one hand disappearing to a pocket inside his jacket.

"Before the wedding, Lina was seen by the family physician," Eric retrieved a square of folded paper.

"There are two contradicting examination results-," he flicked his fingers, unveiling the second piece of paper ", Either congratulations, you have fucked up on a stupendous proportion is in order."

Eric tossed down one of the slips of paper on the oval coffee table between them "Or, you have my deepest sympathies." The second was thrown.

Marcus could already tell what Eric was hinting towards, seeing it written in a doctor's neat scrawl was not necessary, but he looked regardless.

Just as Eric mentioned, the details on each differed significantly.

Overall, in both, Lina was deemed in good health and that the bullet skimmed shoulder was healing well.

Then, there came the section that left Marcus's chest in a tumultuous thrashing.

In one it stated that Lina was between fifteen weeks to seventeen weeks pregnant, in the next, that Lina had no signs of expecting.

Both reports were dated the same day, the day before the wedding.

"It's possible that there has been an attempt to cover it up, to make it look as though she is not carrying a bastard child, but that it will be the offspring of her husband, and a premature birth will be cause for the dates not matching."

Eric went over one possibility for the differing reports.

"Then there is the chance that one is actually entirely fabricated," Eric pointed to the one in Marcus's left hand, the one that stated Lina was expecting "The handwriting of both are different, and that one holds a forged signature,"

Folding them both over Marcus stowed them in a pocket "How did you come by them?"

Before anything could be decided, it needed to be known where the physician's examination reports were sourced.

"From the personal desk of the Dowager," Eric swirled the glass, creating a small vortex in the auburn liquids centre "Precisely before they were seen," he added before putting the glass to his lips, finishing it.

The dowager, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by the Rhine, the late wife of Lina's uncle, Louis Mountbatten, was a rigidly traditional woman. Should the reports have been seen, Marcus dared not to think of the outcome.

"Potentially an effort to humiliate and disgrace Lina then?" Marcus suggested, and he already knew who to look at.

"Exactly-," Eric rocked on his heels, hands in a pocket "-,Fortunately for us I happen to be of a sharper mind. He left the conflicting report behind did our man Charles or Flaxon, or as I prefer to call him, Affe."

Marcus shook his head "Don't insult apes; they actually are known to show intelligence,"

Eric side glanced at Marcus with a small smile "He still looks like the back end of one."

Concurring, Marcus started in a slow, thoughtful walk around the room.

Flaxon was too determined to knock Lina out of the running, and it would not be beyond him to create a falsified medical record.

There was no telling how far Flaxon would go to eliminate the only person in his way.

There too was the possibility that the suspected forged report could hold true.

"Did you look into the matter of the coordinates?" Marcus presumed Eric had and was only waiting for the chance to discuss it.

Eric made a small bounce on the tips of his toes, before nodding "Quite," he murmured "Our little robin who chirped in your ear is Lady Marie," he parted with what he knew with ease.

"Married to the Earl of Gloucester, a man fifteen years her senior. And from the circuit of gossip there isn't a man she has not been under or on top of," Summarising the sordid details of the woman, Eric held up a finger as if to make an important point "Vilem included."

Contradicting what Marcus managed to gather on Vilem, the slight fussing Eric made with his shirt's cuffs led Marcus to make a curious tilt of his head.

"I may have needed to go a little more,-"Eric paused, a slight grimace playing with the corner of his mouth "-,In-depth to get a better insight."

In a nutshell - Marcus was starting to get the hang of the odd little British sayings - Eric climbed into bed with Marie.

"No harm, no foul," Marcus stated, catching Eric's discernible glare.

"You may have assimilated a little too much, Marcus." It sounded like an off the cuff remark, but Eric showed that it was merely a lead into another topic he wished to discuss "I am yet to report back on your status, and so far I have been lenient, but now I have a deadline placed on my neck,"

Marcus had forgotten Eric's real purpose for being here, and that it was not to assist Lina by any means.

"When?" Marcus asked, six months had come and gone a little too quickly, and he could only imagine what time left was going to be minimal.

"By January 15th. They were specific, very, very specific that if I had not found you by then, or at least determined if you were even alive, I am to return to the Fatherland," Eric reeled off the information without so much as a blink.

January 15th was only three months away.

"And what do you plan to tell them?" Marcus inquired softly.

There was no reason not to trust Eric, and there was no doubt that he would make all seem well and above board.

"What I plan to tell them depends on which option you pick," Eric answered, holding up a hand.

"One, you return with immediate effect." He held up a finger "Two, you stay here, denouncing your loyalty to the Reich and the Fuhrer." A second finger came up "Or three, convince her to return with you."

Announcing the options that Marcus had, he considered them for a short time. Each held pros and cons, and Marcus could only choose one.

"Ok," Marcus nodded, his mindset "I will take the option..."

* * *

**-x-**

* * *

Standing before the dowager, Princess Victoria, there was no other way to describe the current circumstances - other than ridiculous.

"With all due respect, Aunt,-"addressing the woman, and purposely disregarding all protocols when doing so, Lina stressed the word that announced their familial ties "-,But I do not need a babysitter. I am twenty-five years old, not five."

The woman's eyes narrowed to pinpricks.

"An age you're yet to act, girl." Victoria crowed with a flick of her fan "This house is in a state of disrepute, and I shall tolerate it no more."

The fan closed with a snap, pointed towards Flaxon "You are an embarrassment to us by name, and by your uncivilised actions as of late, and I will be dead before I see you take my husband's seat!"

Lina was starting to see where some of the familial resemblances came from, though it did not even muster a smile to see Victoria openly shun Flaxon.

"You're a coward, a fraud, the son of a whore!" Victoria continued, "And if it were not for the fact it was outside of my power, I would see you hanging from the gallows."

Refraining a smile when Victoria called Mila - Flaxon's mother - a whore, she straightened her posture when Victoria glided the fan across to single Lina out.

"As for you, you snake tongued, dull-witted, she-demon," Victoria's tone softened none, it became sharper "I have had it with your pathetic excuses to put off taking what is yours by birth. By the end of this month, you will be sworn in and take this godforsaken seat!"

Victoria was irate, lips impossibly thin her hawkish eyes brimming in a fury.

"And until it is done, I will treat you as a child and have your every minute watched." Waving the fan once more to the man stood as though on parade, Victoria leant forward on the desk.

"Cause don't think me old and senile yet, dear. I am aware of the stories you have sewn about the man who keeps you far too close company," her voice became a cruel, husking whisper.

"Your husband is barely cold in the ground, and you are too far gone within your expectancy for him to have planted the seed." Victoria scoped around Lina's abdomen, sneering at it "So help me God, it best not be this man's should it be known true where his loyalties lie."

Resisting bringing a hand to her stomach, the instinctual motion made the hand twitch.

Lina was confident that she paid the physician handsomely enough to declare her examination only that she was in fair health.

A short snort from beside Lina, and she knew without looking that Flaxon had some hand to play in how their aunt came to know about her pregnancy.

As for the alarming suspicion once more upon Marcus, there was no doubt in Lina's mind that it was from the man who would be assigned to watch her every move until Lina was sworn in.

Elijah Jones was not only free of his temporary imprisonment but here and assigned directly to Lina.

All of hell be damned, Lina could barely perceive how she had fallen into such poor luck.

"For all our sakes," Victoria threw down the fan, sitting back in the chair in an almost slouch "Throw yourself down the stairs and be rid of that bastard spawn."


	43. Danke

Catastrophic was the only way Lina could sum up recent events - and there was only more waiting in the wings to come out.

Morose, sullen, abysmally miserable over the newest stroke of lousy luck, Lina left Victoria's office in tight-lipped silence.

Out in the hallway, the space felt smaller, narrow and constricting, and it made Lina's pace brisk to the private elevator.

The echo of the second set of steps ticked in Lina's ears annoyingly, the presence of the man unwelcome and unwanted, she knew that shaking Elijah off too soon would be impossible.

Far too consumed by matters of more importance to be concerned with the dog body Elijah had become to her Aunt Victoria, a finger stroked across her brow.

Fifteen to seventeen weeks placed the date of conception between June and July.

By societal rules' courtship' came with an implied promise that should conception occur, it would end with the man and woman married.

Men than women more keenly undertook the idea of using contraception. It would often be implied that a woman was a prostitute should she obtain a diaphragm or similar - abstinence was a method promoted should a woman not want to bear a child.

Abstinence was not a practice Lina put into action. Not since Lina was nineteen.

On all previous occasions, Lina's partners provided the necessary preventative - until Lina encountered Marcus and Elijah.

There was no formal courtship between them, so there was no preventive measure undertaken - which was what put Lina in the position she was.

Depending on whether Lina was fifteen or seventeen weeks depended on who the father was.

Should Lina have conceived in June, there was denying that the baby would be Marcus's.

If July, there was a strong possibility that the baby could be Elijah's.

Calling for the elevator, Lina took the finger from her brow. The confirmation and known status of her pregnancy would disallow her service return - unless as Victoria suggested, Lina tried to throw herself down the stairs.

Abortion was out of the equation too as it was illegal, and to find a doctor or nurse who would perform the procedure would either be a backstreet job or run the risk of being made public.

Whether Lina liked the matter or not, she would be a mother in either twenty-five or twenty-three weeks.

Which meant that Lina would be due in the March of the following year.

"Do—!" Elijah tried to start a conversation, but Lina didn't want to engage or even want to hear his voice, so she held up a hand to silence him.

It worked.

Stepping into the elevator Lina selected the third floor where her apartment was located, wishing that she was alone.

Balancing on the wall beside Lina and with only a hair's width between them, Lina remained stare at the doors until cigarette smoke twisted out in a thin stream.

Considering asking Danny to dispose of Elijah and Flaxon whilst he was at it, the idea died before it even adequately formed.

It would only place Marcus at further risk and put even more suspicion on him than there already was.

"Are you going to ignore me for the next sixteen days?" Elijah asked softly, with a hint of exasperation.

Ignoring the question and instead checking the floors left to go until Lina's arrived, her fingers drummed on a thigh - only one more floor to go.

All Lina wanted was a moment of respite, and all life kept giving her was one problem after another.

"Don't speak to me. At all." Laying out the terms of how Lina wanted the next sixteen days to go, there was not even a whisper of kindness in her voice.

Lina was not even permitted a day to come to terms with the fact she was already a widow before another element of her life was back in the chokehold of someone else.

Leaving the elevator in a far more confident and controlled stride than how Lina actually felt, the first suite was hers, and opposite was Marcus's.

Thinking better of sharing a space so soon, knowing they were only a hallway apart at first was comforting since the stay at Kensington Palace where they were an entire wing from each other.

Surely Marcus's patience would be at its end once he knew that Elijah was not only back but would be in Lina's shadow consistently.

Once it was over and Lina was sworn to the family's head, more freedom allowed providing that Marcus was not uncovered in that time.

Knowing well that Lina was expected to allow Elijah entry to her apartment. Nothing was in the stipulation that said she had to be there too.

Unlocking the door Lina held it open, spreading out an arm to usher Elijah inside he showed reservation to step inside.

Still, Lina refused to speak with him, so she walked in first, moving to stand behind the door.

Finally, Elijah took a step and came into the hall, and once he did, Lina rolled back around the door and closed it quickly - locking it.

Already with the second key in hand, Lina shot across to Marcus's door and let herself inside just as her door was unlatched, the rattle of the lock coming just as Lina slammed the door of Marcus's apartment closed, leaning up against it.

Staring at the tips of her shoes, Lina did not look up when the faint echoes of conversation came to an abrupt stop once the door slammed and Marcus and Eric stepped out.

"Everything alright?" Eric spoke first, breaking the silence of the hall.

No. Nothing was alright, and everything was all wrong.

Once more Lina's head felt too crammed with information, secrets and unwanted burdens.

"Not particularly," Lina managed before a sharp thump on the door made Lina step off of it. "I have been assigned a personal babysitter," bringing Marcus and Eric up to speed as quickly as she could, she hesitated on the final detail "Who happens to be Elijah."

Eric groaned "And let me guess, its that troll behind the door."

Choosing only to nod, Lina found Marcus.

"Right. Before we handle that, we need to clear up another matter," Eric stated, settling his hands in the pockets of his trousers "Are you pregnant?"

Being asked bluntly of her condition allowed Lina to confirm that Eric held no manner of delicacy on private subjects.

"Yes." There was no point denying it; not while Elijah knew there was a chance he would soon be a father, it would be cruel to deny Marcus the same.

By the startled - possibly gawking - reaction from Eric, it appeared as though he was under some belief that Lina was not.

As for Marcus, his jaw flexed, but there was little else to indicate how he felt about the news.

Not that Lina was expecting some grandiose display, not when there would have been an attempt to pass the child off as Knud's should not have met his death far too soon.

Lina knew that it was wrong to have even tried to do precisely that, but at the time, there was no other choice permitted to her.

Already Lina was prepared to sacrifice her happiness to ensure that Marcus would be okay. Lina somehow managed to reason that denying him the knowledge that he was potentially a father made them break even.

"I refer to my earlier statement when I say this," Eric was holding out both arms, hands held up as if telling no one to approach him while staring at nothing "You sind die buchstäblichen Flüche meines Lebens!"

Angry enough that Eric reverted to his natural tongue, his hands flicked up, before directing one at Marcus and the other at Lina as he hissed.

"Are you still certain of your decision?" This time Eric turned his attention on Marcus "I will make an allowance because of-," he jousted a hand at Lina, or specifically her abdomen "-,this. That. The tiny human she's festering."

For some reason, Eric seemed irate at the news more than he should have been.

Getting the picture that something was going on, that a decision had been made in Lina's absence, she looked at Marcus in hope for an answer.

Marcus met Lina's gaze briefly, before looking down at Eric "My decision remains the same," he spoke firmly, showing no sign that he was wavering from the decision he had come to.

Eric watched Marcus closely, searching for something that Lina could not see.

Whatever was talked about, Marcus showed no hesitation in the choice he made.

"You're staying," Eric uttered "You realise you will never be able to return. I will have to declare you as a defector; you know that, right?"

Marcus gazed down at Eric with a faint smile "I know. I understood that when I made my choice,"

Lina was starting to piece together what was being discussed, and she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about it.

Was Marcus really prepared to defect from Germany? For her?

There was a long, lengthy silence for a while - until Eric broke it.

"For fuck sake. You owe me! I will be putting my neck out here, literally," holding his hips Eric hung his head "I will record you as dead. I will aid you until I have to return, so help me God you better not get yourself caught in the meantime."

Marcus stayed quiet, showing some consideration for what Eric announced until his mouth parted to speak.

"Danke."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sind die buchstäblichen Flüche meines Lebens - are the literal curses of my life


	44. Four weeks time

"I have another appointment with the physician in four weeks-," taking a sip of the sweet and milky tea, Lina smiled behind the teacup "-,He will better be able to determine how far along I am."

While undergoing the medical, the family physician discovered Lina's pregnancy and declared she was between fifteen to seventeen weeks. Where Lina was carrying so small, the doctor could not accurately determine how far into her pregnancy Lina was. 

Suggesting to return in four weeks where the symptoms and possible growth would help determine whether the conception happened in June or July left Lina in a small bubble of apprehension.

Should it be deemed that July was the month that Lina conceived, the baby would likely be Elijah's.

A probability Lina did not want to have.

"If I am seventeen weeks I should be expecting in the later parts of March; if it's fifteen, then it will be early April." detailing the expected arrival dates, Lina lowered the teacup into her lap.

There was a strange excitement within the room's aura, but there were concerns on the periphery.

Marcus's decision to stay and denounce his allegiance came as quite a shock considering the most recent events.

Should it be discovered that Marcus was German, there would be no which way about how things would end.

The same would be applied to Lina though possibly more leniency would be shown.

And that was not the only issue.

Should anyone not believe Eric when he returned and declared Marcus dead, someone else could come to check the information was correct.

On top of all that, no one even knew how long the war would go on for. Or what the outcome would be.

What would happen if the Allies lost?

"Focus on getting to the end of the month first." Marcus entered Lina's train of thought like a polite knock on a door "Once that is managed, we can pay closer attention to the matter of dates."

To anyone else, it could be perceived as Marcus being dismissive of Lina's pregnancy, a lack of care for the news; but it was the opposite.

Marcus was a man who liked to work with hard facts, not hearsay or fair-weathered talk - so for him to be focused on Lina's being sworn in over the second appointment was reasonable.

"It will be in sixteen days. On the 31st." Stretching forward a little to put down the teacup, Lina tuned in to the conversation going on beyond the apartment door.

So far, only one or two words could be heard - the choicest unsavoury ones in the collective vocabulary - while the rest fell away into static.

Proving that the doors were thick enough that nothing could be overheard from either side unless shouted, the prospect Elijah heard what was spoken about shortly after Lina entered the apartment was minimal.

Sending Eric out to temporarily engage with Elijah and keep him busy, Lina went another step further.

"Was it wise to place Danny in Elijah's shadow?" Marcus did not look convinced at the plan's prosperity, a downward curve of his brows furthering his dislike to it.

On the contrary, Lina believed otherwise.

"Danny is naturally aggravating, a wind-up merchant at heart," explaining why Lina called Danny from the apartment below, it came with a subtle smile "He will piss Elijah off into one of two options. He gives up and goes away, or will try and remove Danny permanently,"

Marcus raised a single brow, intrigued, if not a little confused by the angle Lina was trying for.

"Danny will come out the victor, regardless of what happens," Lina confessed, her faith in Danny was unwavering and with good reason.

Danny was a wise man, skilled in many ways and rarely did he make mistakes.

Even if push came to shove, and Danny did end up dead in a gutter, it would put Elijah in the immediate sights of the police.

"Admirable as it is to have so much faith in him," Marcus sat forward, elbows to knees the hands created a cradle for his chin. "Is it wise to intentionally place a blockade on Elijah? Especially if, as you say, even your aunt is suspicious of me," announcing the concerns within Lina's planning, Marcus shook his head.

"The papers provided are watertight. Providing you don't have another slip of the tongue," Lina smiled when Marcus returned a disapproving glance. "We are plain sailing. I chose the details for a specific reason," she came out of the chair, stepping around the table between them to sit in the space beside Marcus.

"A boy was born the same year as you in the village of Hoo. A village that has such a small population that those who lived there when this child was born are now either dead, or moved away, and-," she held up a finger when Marcus started to object "-, those who moved have died in action, accident or illness. There is no one alive who can say whether you are, or are not, M Buckler."

The search took weeks to find someone who fit with Marcus's name and age, but they struck gold.

Danny managed to ascertain that whoever the boy M Buckler was, was a ghost in the government's system beyond his primary schooling.

"I also assigned you a squadron who were wiped out. Entirely." Lina didn't much like the use of this detail, but it was necessary to keep Marcus out of prison and from the bullets of a firing squad "They were only small, six at best, but it fitted well with the story you told from the start."

The Squadron Lina picked were based close to Africa, their numbers dwindled by German warships and small dog fights with the Luftwaffe.

Choosing the story that they had meant that no one could put it under disrepute, but neither collaborated.

Left in an air of ambiguity, Marcus was only at risk should he let himself be.

"I understand your reservations," Lina closed a hand around Marcus's, nestling it within her palm "But until I have this over with, its best to have someone to parry with Elijah and keep him out of our business."

Marcus was silent, sombre, and, once again, brooding.

There was a similar occurrence in Lina's kitchen when Marcus first mentioned his concerns about Elijah's identity.

Though this time, Lina could tell that it was entirely that put Marcus in the mood he was.

"What's the matter?" Lina asked gently, leaning forward a little when Marcus looked away, the pinch of an irritable thought holding his brow.

"Elijah won't be gone at the end of the month, not until you can confirm whether there is no possibility that he could be the father," Marcus stated his issue matter of factly, the hand Lina held shaking loose as he chose to stand.

So that was what was bothering Marcus, the matter of establishing paternity.

Rubbing her forehead when it started to ache, Lina knew that the error in her actions was what led to this moment - but she never intended for them to happen.

Having a child while - technically - unmarried was never part of her life planning.

"Look," Lina started in a tired breath "I am only currently unsure because I managed to lose track, and am too small for the doctors to pinpoint an exact time of conception because of it." Lina barely remembered her last period with all that was going on, but she knew that at least there had been one in May.

Thinking about it in a much calmer and clearer light, the signs leant in favour of the baby being Marcus's.

There was no interruption at all to Lina's capability to have sex throughout June, and her body was like clockwork.

For the time being and until a professional opinion was made, Lina thought better of saying it to Marcus.

There would be a chance that Marcus would take it only as Lina was trying to place his worries to bed.

"We were at it virtually every day, from June up until your first trip to London." Marcus obliged Lina with the almost rota they had "How did you not notice?"

Amused in some element, Lina cupped her chin in hand, drumming the fingers off it.

"How didn't you?" She fired back "There was always one week of the month where you got nothing." She reminded him, leading silently towards the conclusion that only moments ago, she had come too "Surely you must have noticed that for the entirety of June and July you were getting it as though it was on tap." 

Slightly sarcastic, but stressing the month mentioned, Lina looked away to her foot where she was flicking the shoe on and off, on and off.

"I'm not a mind reader." Marcus finally spoke up, coming out of their shared silence "This isn't a matter to play coy with,"

Pinching her lips to hide the smile, Lina didn't immediately look at Marcus, but she did speak: "I am quite confident that this little mishap occurred in June, is what I am saying,"

Giving further insight into what Lina had not directly spoken from the start, she slipped the shoe back on her foot. "Allowing for the gestation period, which is normally two weeks, it would have happened early between the latter parts of May and the beginning of June."

Briefly going over what the doctor had told Lina three days ago, the hand under her chin fell to her lap when she faced Marcus. "I'm confident this baby is yours, Marcus," all at once both excited and terrified of the idea, Lina waited in tense silence for Marcus to say something.

Preferably something far kinder than Victoria's suggestion to be rid of the baby.

Used to Marcus often being quiet and contemplative, more likely to be observant than engaged, it made it a little easier to endure when he stayed tight-lipped and intently focused.

There were signs of a smile on Marcus's mouth, ever so vague that it could have been a simple trick of shadows and light, but Lina was confident that he was happy at the prospect that the child Lina was carrying was his.

"These two and a bit weeks will pass sooner than you think," Lina came to her feet, slipping out of the shoes she pushed them neatly to one side "Then it will only be another week and bit to wait, and you will have it in writing that this baby is yours."

Approaching Marcus slowly, Lina tilted her head a little to look up at him in much the same time as he moved to look down at her more comfortably.

"Until then, be patient. Ok?" Wishing that the answer was already available, Lina knew that they would both have to put it out of their mind, for the time being, it was a distraction neither of them needed.

"Helps if you say something in times like these, by the way." Pointing out that Marcus's enigmatic persona was not welcome at all times, Lina probed his face closely.

Mischievous was not a word often attached to Marcus, but by the glint in his eye, it was accurate to describe him as such.

"You're not funny." Lina took a slight backwards step, resting her weight on the back leg, and still, Marcus said nothing.

Marcus continued his silence, the smile less vague but neither obvious.

Patience withering, Lina was sure that Marcus was testing her nerves, and she did not like it.

"Marcus—?" Stopped before the last letter fell off her tongue, Lina almost froze in place when Marcus settled a soft and lingering kiss on her forehead, one hand holding her side.

Confused by the action over the decision to speak, Lina relaxed a little when Marcus brought down his head, laying his forehead against hers so that their eyes met.

"Does this mean the reward system is no longer permitted?" Marcus asked, out of the blue.

Dumbfounded, Lina reeled back - though not far as Marcus caught her before she could create distance - flabbergasted.

"My little reward system is what put us in this position." Lina managed to speak once her shock waned.

Marcus conceded with a slow nod and still holding the smile that was yet to be known "I imagine it was," he mused subtly "And quite a reward it has turned out to be."

For a short time, Lina didn't quite know how to interpret Marcus's words.

"Though it may seem like I am saying this in bad taste or poor timing," Marcus kept to a low tone, bordering on a whisper "But maybe now you won't see it as an impossibility for me to be able to call you my wife someday?"

Carefully taking in what Marcus was saying, Lina could see now why he was so quiet, possibly reluctant to say what was on his mind at the start.

It was quite soon, too soon, after Lina's wedding to Knud to be speaking about marriage all over again - though it didn't feel quite so impossible as months before.

"In four weeks, I will tell you whether it will be impossible or not," Lina spoke in a soft murmur, though a tiny smile came through as she spoke.

Once Lina was sworn in, all aspects of her life would be hers to choose again.

So the idea of marrying Marcus - even if they did it quietly - was not a prospect she was going to shoot down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally sat with a calendar from 1940 to figure out the dates for the pregnancy and the due dates. I was wholly committed to getting this accurate.


	45. Only a few days

Turning the taps of the bath, Lina sat on the edge.

Talking with Marcus over Lina’s pregnancy was cut short at the most inconvenient of times.

Leaving Danny and Eric to handle Elijah and distract him long enough to let Lina speak freely with Marcus came to an abrupt end when Eric swung into the living room and demanded they both come outside.

In the hall between apartments, Lina found Danny standing on one side and Elijah on the other.

Both sporting the starting shades of bruises around the eye.

Laughing at the absolute petulant attitudes of both men, Lina stepped off the edge of the bath, shrugging off the robe to hang it up.

Standing in front of the mirror, Lina inspected her body. Touching the stomach that was yet to reveal its secrets, Lina turned to the side.

It was still relatively flat with no obvious sign that a baby was growing inside.

Trying to picture what Lina would look like once it started to become more pronounced, the hand fell away when someone knocked on the bathroom door.

Warning Elijah to play nice with Danny, it was taken sourly and with much complaining.

Complaints that were cut short when Lina stated flatly that for the entire time Elijah was going to be present, he would have to make do with Danny as company.

Which meant that both men would be staying with Lina to some extent.

Allowing Danny the spare room Lina only smiled when pointing that Elijah could sleep on the floor or the sofa.

A sofa that was far too small for a man of Elijah’s height.

Purposely awarding Elijah the pettiness, Lina could see that he was not expecting to be received so poorly.

There looked to be some hope alive within Elijah that should they talk, get what happened between them aired and smoothed out, the ease of their relationship could be resumed.

A hope that died under Lina’s foot, squashed beneath the heel to never be revived.

What Elijah did to Lina’s home, the lies of who he was and why he was there would not be forgiven.

Though it was nice what Elijah and Lina had for the short few months; it was not something Lina wanted to return to.

“I have yet to say it.” Elijah’s sarcastic drawl echoed in the bathroom “But congratulations, my condolences, and congratulations, again.”

Grabbing the robe off the hook, Lina put it back on in a rush - not wanting to hold an argument with Elijah while standing naked.

“A peeping tom now are we.” Lina objected, pulling the rope tight, she paced back to the middle of the bathroom.

Elijah scoffed, arms folded he held one out “As if I haven’t already seen you,” he stated matter of factly, a smirk curling up his mouth.

Regardless of whether Elijah had seen Lina in the nude before, the difference from then and now was that Lina gave permission.

“Decorum is expected if you’re going to be here,” Lina slewed “Or you might find yourself at the wrong end of a knife.”

Making no secret that Lina wanted Elijah gone, permanently if chance allowed, she smiled sweetly when he showed discomfort.

“Since when did you become so cutthroat?” Elijah paced forward, stopping only when they were stood toe to toe “Or are you just desperate because the web of your lies is closing in on you?”

Lina knew that she should not rise to Elijah’s goading, but the temptation became too hard to ignore.

Sweeping Elijah’s feet out from beneath him, Lina didn’t expect Elijah to counter so rapidly.

Catching Lina by the back of both knees, it was only mid-fall that she managed to bring her legs in to land on Elijah’s arms and not the tiles.

Body jolted by landing on Elijah there was a second of forgetfulness over Lina’s more delicate state.

A second of forgetfulness that was dismissed long enough to punch Elijah.

Straddled over Elijah, the attempt to roll away was stopped, but Lina allowed Elijah to free his arms so that he could cup his bleeding mouth.

“Don’t pretend for even a moment you knew anything more than what I let you see,” Lina shook her head “You weren’t the only one playing that game.”

Playing sweet with Elijah was only to try and coerce him into opening up. Something that Lina accepted as a failure as she got nothing out of Elijah.

Patting the thin dribble of blood that escaped his mouth Elijah threw one hand up, catching Lina across the back and forcing her forward.

Rolling them both so that Elijah came to lay on top, Lina did not care much for the fact he pinned one arm above her head, holding it down by the wrist.

“I didn’t know you?” Elijah asked, showing care not to lay his weight on Lina’s stomach, but not allowing enough room for her to throw him off.

Accepting that for the time being Lina was to a degree, stuck, she rolled her eyes “Not at all,” she agreed with a slight huff.

Beyond going to bed with Elijah and mentioning that Lina was engaged, there was nothing that she allowed him beyond what was common knowledge.

“Why are you so desperate to chase me away?” Letting go of Lina’s wrist, Elijah balanced himself on his forearms, boxing them around her head “Beyond the stripping of your house. I have never done wrong by you.”

Shoulders lifting from the tiles Lina didn’t want to hold this conversation with Elijah, not as they were.

Robe falling open in the tumble, Lina knew that it should not have felt so comfortably familiar to lay with Elijah as she was.

“You were a passing fancy,” taking Elijah’s face between her hands Lina smiled, it was unkind “Nothing more.”

Lina wholeheartedly accepted that Elijah’s roguishness appealed to her in the early months, that she did to some extent enjoy holding his attention - but she didn’t want it anymore.

Elijah smiled “Passing fancy? Or passing fuck?”

Against better judgment, Lina laughed.

This was what irked Lina the most about Elijah; nothing ever seemed to insult him longer than a few seconds, he had a comeback for every little thing sent his way.

“Both.” Lina admitted once quiet from her laughter “You weren’t as disappointing as most.” Her brow arched when Elijah hissed like it physically hurt him.

“Here,” Elijah brought over a hand, using the backs of his fingers to stroke back Lina’s hair “If it weren’t for him, would I have held a chance?”

If it were not for Marcus, would Elijah have had a chance?

“You would.” Lina curled up a hand, closing it around Elijah’s to take it away from her face.

Telling Elijah as much seemed both fair and cruel all at once. And by the indifference on his face, it looked as though Elijah received it how it was intended.

“So, why not indulge me a little?” Elijah rearranged their hands, slipping their fingers together “I am only here until the end of the month,” he whispered, softly, stroking a hand up Lina’s thigh “It’s only a few days,” he was hot against her skin “I know how to keep a secret, as you know.”

Not quite, but almost, Elijah’s lips hovered over Lina’s, until the soft gasp made her head lift to meet with him.

Lina knew that it was wrong and she should push Elijah off, but her body readily met with him.

Holding Elijah’s shoulders when he slipped a hand under her back, lifting her to come on top Lina curled her legs around Elijah’s back, balancing one hand on his thigh while the other twisted in the shoulder of his shirt.

Knowing Danny was in the apartment and the need to be silent added a level of excitement that made the guilt drive a little deeper - but Lina did not stop.

Shifting until Lina was balancing on her knees, her fingers threaded roughly through Elijah’s hair when their mouths met.

“I hate you!” Lina declared in nipping kisses.

Elijah grinned, holding Lina’s waist a little tighter “I can tell.” It was breathless and husky how he laughed.

Infuriated by herself, and by Elijah, there was a surprisingly more aggressive effort in their engagement.

“You’re enjoying this, though,” Elijah whispered when Lina left his mouth for a few seconds “Aren’t you?” He added with a little grin.

Lina threw back her head, biting hard on her lip “Just shut up,” it came out in a wanton, breathless whine “And fuck me.”

Pulling on Elijah’s shoulders to bring him to lay over Lina when she stretched back, she despised the smile on his face when he obliged her.


	46. Peek-A-Boo

Cigarette in hand Lina flipped over another envelope, taking extra care with which ones were to be opened while in company.

Four already held Vilem's telltale looping of her name's letters, and it was these that Lina wanted to read the most.

Knowing that there could be details that would suggest Vilem's guilt or otherwise, Lina wanted to be alone when reading their contents.

There were a few wedding invitations, an outstanding bill from a hotel stay in Brighton sometime the year before, and a handsome amount that Lina believed were from past lovers.

Twirling one, in particular, Lina drew a breath on the cigarette to hide the secretive coyness of her smile.

Lina was never shy to exchange a raunchier letter than most.

Picking up the pile that would be left to memory Lina placed them in the bureau, stacking them neatly in one of the slots.

Apartment modern in that it was something called an open plan, the living, kitchen, and dining rooms could all be seen.

Stuck with the unofficial entourage, Lina walked behind the sofa where Marcus was sat, her hand brushing up his shoulder as she reached him.

Adjusting a little from the corner of the sofa where Marcus was resting, the hand previously supporting reached across so that their fingers entangled shortly.

In the corner of one eye, Lina caught the smile on Elijah's mouth, no effort made since that morning to deny that he was pleased with how their night went.

There were at least no apparent signs while they were in the presence of Marcus and the others.

Stomach gurgling with either guilt or general sickness from the pregnancy, Lina chose not to think about the dire situation she would find herself should Elijah open his mouth.

Playing right into Elijah's hand, Lina would have to hope that Marcus would only see it as a vain attempt to create tensions between them should Elijah say anything.

The alarming excitement of the risk, much like Lina had with Marcus should anyone beyond Eric and Danny discover that he was an enemy pilot.

Considering the possibility that Lina enjoyed the thrill, danger and excitement a little too much, she let the hand slip away from Marcus when Danny made a complaint that he was thirsty.

"The key for the cabinet is under the clock," Lina pointed to the carriage clock on the mantelpiece "Knock yourself out."

Danny eyed the carriage clock before bowing sarcastically "Much appreciated, your highness," he chortled, pushing back the lip of his hat.

Watching Danny circle around the coffee table, Lina became focused on one of the tiles that decorated the outside of the fireplace.

It looked crooked, loose from the rest.

Walking around Lina picked the letter opener from the coffee table, elbowing Danny aside before kneeling to see the tile better.

It was chipped in the top left corner where someone had pulled it off.

Slinging one arm on the mantelpiece, Danny peered down at Lina, his thumb rubbing across his fingertips.

"Is it wise with your dog here-," Danny advised, picking up the carriage clock with his other hand "-,Wait for a second,"

Seeing the small error in acting without caution, Lina used the letter opener to scrape away a section of charred wood burnt onto a tile below the one that caught her eye.

Letting Danny do as he needed to create a distraction, the rattling glass of the bottles he was rummaging through acted like a countdown.

"Here, Doodlebug-," Danny snickered, cooing over the nickname "-,Grab me a glass and actually make yourself useful."

Glancing with care, Lina watched when Elijah turned around to search the cupboards.

Once Elijah's back was turned Lina levered off the tile, catching it in the skirt of her dress.

Behind was hollowed out, and a single piece of folded paper was stuffed inside.

Pulling it free, Lina balanced the tile back, wiping both hands she paused when the wind of something passing by her head whipped up her hair before it broke on the wall.

Thick shards of glass littered the floor.

Setting a hand on a knee, Lina twisted a little to look behind.

Danny was stood side-on, obviously moving out the way of the glass's trajectory, as for Elijah, his arms were folded on the counter of the kitchen, and he was scratching the back of his head while looking away.

Careful in pocketing the piece of paper Lina stood slowly, sighing.

"Clean it." Lina continued to wipe both hands together "Now."

Glancing up only a fraction when Danny snorted into the opening of the bottle he was swigging, Elijah faced Lina with some strange show of betrayal.

Pointing a finger to the mess Lina clicked them "If you can't behave I will put you outside like the disobedient dog you are behaving like," it was raining, hard.

Eyebrows flicking up Elijah held the counter for a second, his cigarette twitching left to right with the movement of his mouth.

"Clean it up pup," Eric strolled by "Or I will rub your face in it."

Watching Eric while he glided by, he was there silent and forgotten, for most of the time, Lina smiled when he met her gaze.

Danny whistled like he was calling a dog "Come on boy,-" he flicked out a finger from the neck of the bottle "-You might just get a treat after,"

Hard as it was not to look at Danny, it was the slyness in his smile that told Lina all that she needed to know.

Danny knew what happened in the bathroom.

Taking out the slip of paper from the pocket Lina used it to excuse herself from Danny's underhand methods to oust the secret of what went on in the bathroom.

Making no special effort into placing space between Elijah and herself whilst also not inviting his attention, Lina knew it was safer to act complacent in his company.

Unravelling the page, Lina looked up at the french doors she was standing in front of, the balcony beyond rattling with the heavy downpour.

"Peek-a-boo."

Reading the single sentence, Lina struggled to swallow, coughing when it filled she cupped the wet spray in her hand.

Looking down, Lina could see the spilling patch spreading and saturating the dress.

Finding the single bullet hole in the glass Lina's skin came over cold, freezing even.

Stumbling backwards Lina clasped the paper in hand letting her eyes close; she couldn't even be sure if she hit the floor.


	47. Shadow & Shame

Victoria Mountbatten was an imposing woman, sharp-eyed and sharper tongued.

"I was assured that you were well suited for this role Mr Jones," wrists hanging over the arms of the seat Victoria was taking the audience from, the fingers curled, the nails clicking "Yet here I sit, awaiting the outcome of my niece's surgery."

The grandfather clock rang out another hour passed; it was nearing midnight.

Made to stand like they were on parade all four men were subject to Victoria callous eyed stare.

"Tell me what it is you were doing when you allowed her to take that shot-," Victoria held up a finger stopping Elijah from talking "-,let me tell you what you were doing you dull-witted ape, you were doing nothing other than failing in your duty, again."

Victoria stood - she was not tall - and made two decisive steps that landed her in front of Elijah.

"All of you are servicemen,-"Victoria shot a look at Marcus "-Luftwaffe included, Mr Buckler I am informed you're an Oberstleutnant, correct?"

Marcus contained his surprise to a simple glance at the short-statured Victoria, watching as the sly smile slipped across her withered lips.

"Eric Scheer, a member of the Gestapo would also be correct," Victoria stepped towards Eric, they were of the same height "What a bad dog you are," she flicked the end of Eric's nose.

Turning away with the wave of a hand, the line glanced in unison to the only man who was not called out in some way - Danny.

"I have been watching from the sidelines a long time, a long, long time," Victoria spoke to them all, she sounded tired, defeated almost "Ever since that stupidly reckless boy shot himself-," she tutted "-,Right in front of his sister of all things."

Victoria approached a cabin at the back of the room, taking out a chain from around her neck that hid the key at the end in her bustle, unlocking it.

"I know every agent of The Reich's name, where they can be found and even who they have climbed on and under," Victoria pulled out a thick file, waving it before tossing it on her desk.

"I can even tell you which lampposts they pissed on-which-," she pointed a crooked finger back between them all "-,Is a lot. Do they not have toilets anymore in Germany? Were they banned too?"

Not sure whether to be worried or not, Marcus stayed silent, as did Eric.

It could well be a trap to force them to expose themselves, and Marcus had come too far to face capture now.

Victoria's hand became a claw over the thick file on the desk "I understand the purpose of which my niece kept you here Buckler, to aid her in discovering if Vilem is guilty of this crime he is accused,"

Their eyes met, and Victoria showed within hers the knowledge only obtained from living as long as she had "But your purpose has changed, as has yours, Elijah," she sighed, crooking two fingers and calling someone forward.

Danny.

Victoria loaded a Smith and Wesson from a desk drawer, slowly and with signs of excellent practice.

"My family's name is facing ruin, and time has come to clean up these loose ends," Victoria crowed, handing out the gun which Danny took, a slow and cruel smile sliding across his mouth "And you're my loose ends as of now."

For many months Marcus was assured that Danny could be trusted, and now here the man was, readying a gunshot for their heads.

"Oh, don't look so betrayed, Danny has always been loyal to this family, to its head and its predecessors, Lina included," Victoria sighed, though it came with a short smile.

Marcus accepted that the chances of his first child surviving the shot that landed Lina in a surgery room was slim, but that did not mean that he wanted to have his last memory of the woman he came to love to be her unconscious body.

Marcus was not ready to leave, and not because he was scared of death but because there was still much, he wanted to do and share with Lina.

Victoria sat tall, confident and prominent. "I have led this house from its shadows, protected it from ridicule and shame," she nodded to Danny who moved to be more central to the room, to allow better aim.

"I will not see it sink due to an accusation of my nephew being a turncoat," she lifted a finger, and Danny pulled the trigger.


	48. Air Commodore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> https://youtu.be/gz1zi7oUt_Y

A sharp manoeuvre narrowly took the left wing out of bullets' path sprayed in a sweeping arc.

Skimming the water's surface with the right wing Lina stayed tilted, passing through the narrow columns of stone with a painful scraping on the Spitfires cockpit.

It cracked.

Pulling up and into a spin, Lina's body shook from the overhead explosion.

A bullet piercing the fuel tank, one of theirs burst into a fire coated bird, gliding in pirouettes of smoke to the sea.

"They're hammering us out here!" The radio in Lina's ear crackled with the message.

Scrambled from Manston with only eight planes ready to fly, they were outnumbered heavily.

Lining up the sights, Lina unloaded on the cockpit of the Bf-109 that was in a dog fight with their youngest flyer.

Help short-lived when an enemy plane entered a swooping downward plunge towards Lina another roll forced her to desist.

Unlike the year before, Lina was not on a flight with her father; there would be no forced landing or leading an enemy plane inland.

This was a do or die.

Flinching when a bullet zipped through the glass of the cockpit Lina gave silent prayer when it missed the engine on its exit.

It did, however, clip a propeller, stalling it for just a second.

A second was long enough to send a plane into a downward plight that could not be recovered from, and so Lina worked quickly to get the propellers spinning again.

Losing altitude Lina could see the channel's rippling waves, already fed with one of their planes, she was waiting for the second tasting of Spitfire.

Sweat building Lina could hear the mechanical chugging of the engine, the coughing starting.

Trying to pull up into a glide, Lina blinked finally when the propellers came back to life, and not a second too soon.

Able to ride out the glide while the blades warmed back up, Lina cut upward, thumb on the trigger when the underbelly of a Bf 109 came into her sights.

Checking the fuel gauge, Lina could not have been luckier when the skies became quiet.

The dogfighting at its end when the Luftwaffe made an unexpected retreat, they stayed circling the cliffs for a short time until the all-clear came.

"We got lucky!" The radio crackled, Tinker announcing he made it through another day.

Staring at the bullet holes entry and exit, the cracked glass, Lina sighed "Who didn't make it?"

It was a question no one ever wanted to ask, but that needed to be known before they landed back at base.

"Someone tell me that a Scotsmen hit the channel?"

The line was silent for some time, their planes coming into a lineup as they headed back for Manston.

"O Flower of Scotland, when will we see you again!" The aggressive national anthem shouted over the radio "That fought and died for!"

Laughing interrupted the rendition as Jock sang them an angry-sounding version of Scotland's national anthem.

"You damned sweaty sock!" Peter almost screamed "You haggis shagging fucker!"

The radios became interspersed with Peter and Jock's arguing and laughter from the rest.

Once more successfully coming back inland, and not from being fished out the channel, Lina glanced over the town of Dover as she passed overhead.

Ten months had come and gone since Lina was shot in her flat in Piccadilly, and only two since she was allowed to return to service.

In that time Lina had been called out to defend the channel and the white cliffs sixteen times.

Every flight back came with both relief and sorrow as it was never without a loss that she would fly over Dover or the fields before the landing strip of Manston came back into view.

A lot had changed in those ten months.

Sworn in the day after Lina's discharge, the following weeks were spent returning orders to the house of Mountbatten.

Free to resume service by July there was not a moment allowed to think on all that happened between April of the year before then.

Tilting when the others did to adjust their course, Lina occasionally entered the conversations.

"Are you joining us for a drink?" Peter asked, directing it at Lina.

Contemplating it, Lina smiled beneath the mask "Sure. I can knock a few."

"Aye wee lassie, we will knock more than a few!" Jock cut in with a bark of laughter.

Fading out again as they discussed how the night would turn, Lina found a rare moment where they did not want her contribution, and so it let her think.

Returning to the Squadron, it came as both a surprise and joyous to see all the old faces - John excluded - and the new ones.

Once a Squadron of twenty, they lost numbers before Lina's life took a somersault and she was made to take leave.

Radioing the control room to inform them they were coming back in for landing, Lina watched as the aerodrome and mess hall emptied, those who could not take flight this time coming out to see who made it back.

The battle was hard, testing and with far too many close brushes, but they lost only one man.

The recovery of their fallen man would be left down to the coast guard.

Approaching the landing strip, Lina braced against the expected bumps and jolts, waiting for the nose to touch down properly as the propellers started to slow.

It took some time, but the wheels gained traction, allowing Lina to start to steer herself off the main runway and let another come into land.

Slowly the Spitfire came to a standstill, and as it did, Lina could see the maintenance boys walking across the grass.

Unstrapping the belts Lina removed the mask, taking a deep breath before opening the cockpit's lid.

It was still warm for August, but the wind was fresh and chilly on her sweating skin.

The bullet to the propeller left Lina risking a crash landing into the sea and too close to not coming home again.

A prospect that almost became a reality when the bullet broke through the glass and narrowly missed the control panel and engine.

Pushing a hand through her hair Lina latched the other on the edge of the pit, climbing out and hopping down onto the tarmac just as Paul came striding across the grass.

"Made it back then," Paul didn't smile, but his tone was warm.

Unzipping the flight jacket Lina grinned "Nearly didn't -," an arm came out, pointing to the chunk of torn metal on the propeller blade "-,Came close to taking a drink."

Paul leaned back a little, mouth-filling with air as he held his hips "Fortune pissed on you didn't it?" he observed, turning a little when Jock and Peter opened their cockpits, continuing their screaming match face to face rather than in everyone's ears.

"Peter is mad Jock made it back-," running a hand through her hair again to break it out the braid Lina nodded to the engineers when they said they would start repairs on her Spitfire "-So Jock gave us a merry rendition of The Flower of Scotland,"

Paul laughed, head thrown to the side as he did, trying to hide that he was not always stoic and severe.

Biting on the corner of her lip Lina searched her flight jacket pocket for the cigarette case, taking one out "I don't suppose you came to see me specifically for no reason?"

Lighting up, Lina didn't much like Paul's sudden silence.

"We are in the cle—Oh shit!" A shout echoed across the airfield, the four pilots who ran out the side door of the Naafi skidding into each other, before running back inside.

"Paul." Lina stopped walking, cigarette held to her mouth but not meeting it "You were sent to stall..." she trailed off, head craned to look up at Paul "Weren't you?"

Shoulders slumping in some defeat Paul pointed to the still-open door of the Naafi "They mean well," he muttered in a weak defence "They're just not paternalistic,"

Worrisome for the need to mention the men were not entirely sure what to do when around children, Lina started to toss down the cigarette but stopped.

Walking out the door of the Naafi mid scolding the four pilots who scarpered back inside was Gloria, and nestled on her hip was Elias.

"You toads! Eli is not a pilot! He is a baby!" Gloria wagged a hand back at them; finger flicked out "And he will not gut Jerry!"

Cheeks hollowed down, Lina coughed, holding her hips while trying not to laugh.

"They took him in the cockpit again-," Paul spoke under strain "-He was Captain Jerry Gutter today," Paul wheezed a little from the effort of not laughing.

Eyes watering around the edges, Lina pinched her lips together, nodding, before cracking under strain on meeting Paul's face.

When Lina was shot, it had entered - with good graces - above Elias, leaving him unharmed.

With a growing child on top of healing, Lina spent the majority of her pregnancy in hospital.

Born in the March of that year, Elias was a healthy seven pounder.

While in recovery, Lina had the dates of her conception and expectancy narrowed down, and Elias's father was confirmed.

Disliking Elias's bringing onto the airfield, Lina was content enough that he was ok and that her Squadron took Elias on almost as if they were all his dad.

Checking the landings' progress, Lina counted seven returned Spitfires, the cockpit of the last opening, and Lina watched the pilot climb out.

Victoria called it an act of preserving their house, name and reputation when she ordered Danny to unload three bullets.

The old crone had smiled wickedly when Lina gawked back at her after that reveal.

Left for the preceding months to stew on what Victoria decided to do that night in the October of the previous year, it allowed Lina time to come to terms with it too.

Once free of the main burdens of her new title Lina did not return to Dover or even Piccadilly, choosing instead to take a small cottage a little ways from the airfield.

Elias should have been and under the care of the hired nanny at the cottage, not at the airfield.

"Who collected Eli this time?" Lina dared to ask, wiping under each eye to remove the laughter induced tears.

Captain Jerry Gutter was, distastefully, hilarious.

"That was actually my fault," Paul admitted "The lads wanted to bring him over, just in case," he looked at Lina with a too aware smile.

There was always a chance that Lina would not come back, and she appreciated that they wanted to bond with Elias if it ever happened.

There had already been whispered talks among them over who would adopt Elias should it happen.

Personally, Lina would be happy for any of them to adopt Elias should the worst-case scenario come along.

"So, how did captain Jerry Gutter fare today?" Lina smiled, wanting to be gone from the sombre topic.

Close to finishing the cigarette, Lina smiled when Paul listed Elias's imagined derring-do's that the rest of the Squadron had come up with.

"He also was promoted-," Paul held up two fingers "-,Twice. He outranks us all,"

Nodding Lina looked over to where Elias was being fussed over by Gloria and the four pilots.

One was holding Elias up as though he was flying, running in a circle.

"Does that mean we have to salute him?" Lina asked while dropping the cigarette under a boot.

Paul stuck his hands in his pockets "Saluting is required, yes," the answer came on a soft chuckle as he met with Lina's pace to greet the others.

Giggling, with a little drooling, Elias's hands sprung out, grabbing at the air and whining when Lina came into his view.

Elias was the small blessing Lina didn't even realise that she needed from the last year and four months.

"I'm sorry, but you must salute Air Commodore Elias," Barnaby declared, as he and the other two pulled into a salute "Not only for rank but his valiant efforts in the air today,"

How Barnaby managed to keep a straight face as he said it was beyond Lina at that moment in time, but she did as they said, and saluted.

"Did he get another promotion?" Paul asked, dropping his arm from his salute.

Barnaby nodded "Yes, he faced this old mare and lived," jabbing a thumb at Gloria, he laughed when Gloria slapped his arm.

Taking Elias from his supposed flight, Lina cradled him in close when he showed that the time in which Lina was away had been eventful for him.

With a small yawn and rubbing of one eye, Lina tucked his head under her chin "I think our Air Commodore is battle-weary and needs a nap," she hushed Elias softly, bobbing on her feet.

Leaning in close and rubbing Elias's cheek Gloria smiled "He's a treasure. Get home, let him sleep," she patted Lina's arm, before turning on the four "As for you, cleaning duty. Hop to it," she clapped her hands, almost chasing them as they tried to run off.

Viewing the men running from Gloria and cleaning duty, Lina was distracted when Elias started to whinge, his tiredness coming through strong.

"I will drive you back," Paul offered, placing a hand at Lina's back "You can take the night off,"

Appreciative of Paul's courtesy, Lina didn't enjoy the evenings when spent alone in the cottage.

"Will you stay awhile?" Lina asked, sliding into the passenger seat of the Tilly with care not to disturb Elias.

Glancing across at Lina it came with a little, almost sheepish smile "Only a little while," Paul started the engine, a slight colour flushing his cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought I would start leaving notes at the end of each chapter as a little hello, among other things.  
> Usually, when a series looks like it is going to become a long one I would break it down and split it, but this time I will not be doing that & this series has barely even started (48 chapters and barely started - madness) it's only just finished its baseline 'arc'.  
> Soo, I hope you enjoy what is to come!  
> Thank you for the kudos, the comments, and even taking the time to have a look!  
> You're all fabulous, and I can not say enough how much I appreciate that you take the time to read this!  
> also, apologies for horrendous grammar, spelling etc., I have been slacking quite a bit on my editing as of late! ;_;  
> also, as many may have noticed, I love a good cliffhanger, and I feel no guilt for leaving you hanging over the result of chapter 47 - no one is safe in this! Not even the Reader ;P  
> on that note, a little factoid is below for you ^.^b
> 
> NAAFI - lovingly referred to as No Ambition And Fuckall Interest - essentially they were the caterers to the Army & Air Force.


	49. I suppose

Lina held Paul's face between both hands in the final throes; their foreheads pushed together while a bite to her lip subdued the wanton cry fighting with it.

A short catch of breath in the back of the throat, Lina sought Paul's mouth when he encroached his finish.

Sharing breaths and short kisses, Lina embraced Paul's weight when his arms gave in, and he laid down upon her, face buried in the curve of her neck.

Turning slightly, fingers stroking back Paul's hair Lina gave in to a small giggle when his lips grazed her neck.

Paul was different from the other men Lina took into her bed - he was soft, passionate and unselfish.

The short few weeks they spent together were pleasant to never once left disappointment or needed to finish herself.

While on the airbase they remained professional, but when Paul stopped by, it was a whole other scenario.

"What time is it?" Paul broke up the short tickling kisses with a whispered question, a hand stroking up Lina's side.

Squirming a little as the kisses and touches tickled the fevered skin, Lina craned to peer at the clock on the bedside table - it was close to ten in the evening.

Telling Paul as such Lina knew without asking that he would be leaving soon.

Little more than half an hour more, and Paul would be dressed and standing on the doorstep with a small smile and a whispered promise to see her in the morning.

Deciding it best that Paul never stayed the night in case of wagging tongues, they knew any later than eleven in the evening would set brows raising among the neighbours.

Turning back when Paul rolled to the other side of the bed, Lina waited while he settled on the headboard and for his arm to lift.

Tucking up to Paul's side with her head on his chest, Lina could feel the soft tugging on the edges of her mouth when Paul resumed stroking her side.

Months spent with only a hospital bed, and a growing stomach for company made Paul's bashful approach wholly welcome, if not a little flattering.

One evening, walking Lina home after a night spent drinking in the Naafi ended not with them falling into bed, but Paul placing a sweet kiss on her.

Never once being shown such consideration, Lina didn't even think that Paul looked at her as anything more than a friend until that night.

"Do you think there will come a time where staying will not be an issue?" Lina asked, turning over so that she could face Paul rather than need to lookup.

Stretching across Paul when his skin became a little warmer around the cheeks, Lina dropped her head with a short laugh before slipping the cigarette case off the bedside table, sitting up against the headboard.

Paul was confident while giving them orders and battle planning, but never when it came down to Lina.

"Well-," Paul coughed, sitting forward and placing both arms over his knees "-,That depends if you want it to be?"

Stopped from lighting the cigarette, Lina met Paul's question with a look.

Knowing Paul for many years, far longer than a few weeks or even a night, made the transition both easy and challenging.

Lina respected Paul as a friend and as a wing commander, but she was fond of his company beyond it too.

Eyes closing Lina lit the cigarette, drawing on it deeply before resting the heel of the hand on her thigh, thumb rubbing her bare ring finger.

"I do," Lina exhaled, not once lifting her gaze from the space of sheets between them "I wouldn't mind it at all..." Lina's voice fell away, tongue floating the gap of her lips "Actually I would prefer it if you did stay,"

Never one for emotional conversation, Lina was confident motherhood softened her.

Paul leant over resting on one arm to be able to look up at Lina with a faint whisper of a smile "How about you try saying that while looking at me?" It came out in a slight tease, harmless and playfully.

Facing away, Lina wanted to hide the smile Paul roused, but it became evident within her laugh.

"You're confident in the strangest moments, Thompson-," addressing Paul more formally and by last name, her head rolled back to meet his mirthful gaze ",-Or should I be calling you Sir?"

Paul laid back against the headboard, relaxing a little when Lina slipped her legs over him.

"You can call me Sir in the field," Paul laid a hand on Lina's thigh, squeezing it softly "Paul anywhere else, your highness," meeting Lina's jest with equal enthusiasm, it came with a short-lived smile.

Bending down, Lina captured Paul's mouth in a gentle kiss, holding one side of his face.

Months rolled on since the moment Lina saw Marcus last, and even though there was still an echo of longing for it to be him, and not Paul, that Lina shared a bed with Lina let go of the idea that he was not dead.

Victoria left no detail out of the night in her office when ordering Danny to take the executioner's role - and Lina didn't once doubt the promise within Victoria's words.

Months spent in adamant denial of Vilem's death warned Lina not to take the same approach with Marcus's.

Grieving was a healthy process that needed to be done, and Lina could not be selfish this time around, not when Elias needed and depended on her.

"The lads will have a field day once it's known," stealing the cigarette out of Lina's hand, Paul puffed on it for a moment "Are you ok with that?"

Combing fingers through Paul's sandy hair, Lina grinned "I'm sure Air Commodore Elias should be enough to keep them from being too heavy on their jokes," it came with a short roll of the eyes, but Lina was more than ready to handle the Squadron.

If Lina couldn't handle a jibe here and there, she would not have survived basic training some years before.

Paul flicked his thumb back and forth on the butt of the cigarette, a wistful smile on his mouth "I think they would better listen to him than they would me," a short laugh followed the joking admission before Paul stubbed out the cigarette.

Forced to be silent to spare scandal over who fathered Elias, the story sold to King Christian of Denmark that Knud was his father, Elias's birth coming prematurely due to the stress of losing Knud so soon, and Lina's assassination attempt.

No irony was missed when the papers printed the tragic tale of a boy who would never meet his father days after Elias's birth.

Without doubt, Victoria dictated much of what was printed, of how distraught Lina was to be a widow so soon and a single mother.

Lina would never deny one thing about the circumstances - Knud was missed dearly.

King Christian politely acknowledged Elias as the hereditary heir of Knud and awarded him the title Prince Elias of Denmark.

A prestigious title to hold for a little imposter.

Running a hand over her mouth to hide the little smile, Lina rocked back when Paul sat forward, bringing both arms around her.

Lightly tracing Paul's hairline Lina sighed softly when he placed a kiss between her breast, it was gentle and comforting in the way that he did rather than carnal and wanton.

Though it was likely due to the crying interruption from the room across the hall.

"Go on," Paul relaxed in his hold, sitting back on the headboard "Can't keep our new Commodore waiting," flinching away when Lina lightly slapped his arm, Paul sat forward for one more kiss when Lina stood from the bed.

Taking the robe from the vanity table's stool, Lina slipped into it, tying it up before opening the bedroom door.

Living in the sense of normality almost with Paul let Lina relax the near-constant tension between her shoulders for over a year, it made things not feel like she was continually climbing a mountain.

It was the sense of calmness long needed since Elias's birth.

Sweeping a hand around the back of her neck to free the hair, Lina opened Elias's door carefully, creeping almost across the floor to his crib.

Legs kicking, and tiny fists scrunched up Elias gurgled and blew small raspberries with his tongue when Lina leant over.

Bringing Elias into her arms Lina cupped the back of his head, pressing soft kisses to his temple.

"What's wrong?" Lina asked as if Elias could answer, rocking him gently while walking around the room.

There was no need for a change, and he was not hungry.

Elias cooed and gurgled, curling his tiny hands into Lina's robe and pulling on her hair.

It didn't hurt the small fistful he tugged at, but Lina still discouraged it.

"Sssh, my little commodore," Lina stroked a finger down Elias's nose "You should be sleeping,"

Relieving the hired nanny for the evening to attend the local dance being held in the town hall, Lina enjoyed the moments that she could have Elias to herself.

Back in active duty again, the days were long and sometimes the nights longer.

With knowing that a flight could well be Lina's last, she did not want to waste a single second of it.

Should things have held a different outcome, Lina didn't doubt for a second that she would have hung up her flying jacket and said goodbye to her career in the Royal Air Force.

Yet, the war showed no evidence of ending after two almost two years, and Lina knew the importance of what they did down at Hellfire corner.

One less Spitfire in the air meant one more chance Germany had to take England.

Lina's life was a cost that would willingly be paid if it made it one second harder for the Germans.

Seeing that Elias would not settle down, Lina walked back across the hall to her bedroom where Paul was sitting on the edge of the bed, shrugging into his shirt.

Checking the time Lina found it to be half ten - Paul's agreed departure time.

Not wanting to appear presumptuous Lina didn't ask why Paul was dressing until he twisted a little to look at her.

"He's not settling," Lina smiled when Elias gurgled agreement "So I am going to take him downstairs,"

Paul tucked in his shirt, coming around the bed "Good timing I guess," he came to stand by Lina, one hand cupping the back of her head, he laid a kiss on her "I was going to put the kettle on," he tickled under Elias's cheek, laughing when it got him a small scowl.

Not sure whether to be embarrassed or guilty for assuming that Paul paid no mind to their earlier talking, Lina was at ease when Paul mentioned that he was only going downstairs.

At only half ten at night, it was still a little early for them to sleep; not that Elias would allow Lina even to try.

Walking with Paul - but falling behind when taking the stairs - Lina wanted this small moment to last.

Away from the airfields and the war, the politics of her family, this was blissful.


	50. A sky full of song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case people are not sure what these mean ☺️
> 
> Glaswegian Kiss - a headbutt
> 
> Chelsea Smile - cutting the mouth from the edges to halfway up the face.
> 
> Turning the air blue - swearing. A lot.

Sceptical, Lina folded down the newspaper.

"I don't think that is what a spanner is for," Noting the way Barnaby was holding the tool more like a German stick grenade, Lina followed Barnaby's line of sight.

Tinker.

Snapping the paper back up once it was settled what Barnaby was waiting to do, Lina didn't bat an eyelid when the clunk of the spanner came, and Tinker screamed - turning the air blue.

Experiencing a rare sunny day, they picked up the tables and chairs from the Naafi and snuck them out the back to the grass.

Not part of the fly team that day, the ones who were free from duty partook in a few beers and many shenanigans.

Tinker was not the first victim of the morning, and there was the certainty that he would not be the last.

"So-," Peter's boots clumped on the table as he rocked back in the chair "-,An Englishman, an Irishman, and Jock the old Scottish twat walk into a bar," he started, crossing both hands behind his head, gaining all of their attention.

Jock sat up from the grass he was laying on "Oi! I will b' shoo'n yoo' m' Glaswegian kiss if you' carry' 'n," he declared, the emphasis on his accent broader due to the whiskey bottle in his other hand.

"Speak English you gozzy eyed part!" Peter spat back, bringing his feet off the table and his hands down "Or I will be showing you how we smile in Chelsea,"

Low whistling proceeded the dialectical threats, a couple making bets with their tobacco rations over who would win.

The history of why Peter and Jock disliked each other so passionately was a mystery to Lina - yet it never failed to entertain.

Dropping the paper down, Lina noticed Andy skirting around the Naafi door like he did not want to be seen, and it didn't take long to discover why.

No more than a breath after Andy came a land army girl, shimmying down her skirt and tidying the angle of the cap.

"Andy, you dirty dog," Lina called out, watching when the young woman flushed an attractive shade of red while trying to hide her face.

The others turned, whooping and hollering, before Tinker left them all in a painstaking silence with his observation of: "Isn't that General Zachly's daughter?"

Eyes shifted around the small group, before turning sharp on Andy who merely whipped out a sordid, yet, triumphant grin.

"Look at the proud little git," Barnaby pointed at Andy as his walk became more confident and cocky. "Nailing the General's daughter in the back of the Naafi without shame, you dirty old dog!"

"Talking of old dogs-," Peter shouted above the din, returning to rocking on his chair "-,Here comes the other one," head nodding across the field then to Lina, he beamed a saucy grin "How is the old wing commanders flight patterns then Serge?"

Eyes gliding over the others as they all started to huddle in, hoping for some juicy details to be told, Lina sighed, raising a boot to the table edge that Peter was on the other side of - and kicked it.

Arms spinning in circles for balance, Peter lost the fight to stay upright and fell back on the grass.

Never ones to miss a chance to laugh at another's expense, the lads were practically howling when Peter fell.

"Better than yours," Lina smiled, leaning over the table to peer down at Peter.

Only looking away when Paul asked what was going on, Lina and the rest became quiet and sly smiled - except Tinker.

"Well, Sir," Tinker started to say, "Andy just do—?!"

"Barnaby!" Lina shouted.

Peter threw out an arm "Spanner 'im!"

"Aye aye!" Barnaby shouted, launching the previously thrown spanner at Tinker.

It hit with great precision. Right between Tinker's eyes, knocking him backwards with another cry and air turning blue.

Paul stood with arms folded, glancing between them all.

"So-," Peter sat up, folding his arms on the chair that was still sticking up between his legs "-,Sir. As you can see, we are behaving like perfect gentlemen, and ladies, and enjoying this fine afternoon."

There was no plausible way that Paul bought any of what Peter said, but it was unanimously -silently- decided that that was their excuse and they were sticking to it.

No one thought Paul a snitch, but it was wise to keep the higher ranks out the knowledge of certain things.

Andy bedding General Howard's daughter was undoubtedly one of those things.

With all them going about as if they knew nothing that could end with Andy being beasted, or even in the glasshouse, they all looked painfully suspicious.

Sharing a look with Peter for their small moment of teamwork, Lina stepped around the table, extending a hand to get him back on his feet.

"Could have pushed Jock over," Peter muttered, clapping both hands to remove the grass and dirt from his fall.

Checking on Jock's progress through the bottle he stole out the Naafi Lina shook her head "He will be flat on his back come noon,"

Peter and Lina observed Jock's stumbling tilted walking, one arm held up, the other laid across his stomach.

"Give him a lass," Peter snickered "He would be dancing the tango,"'

Adopting similar poses, Peter and Lina did a short - poorly attempted - version of the tango before laughing.

"Let's hope things don't go so far south that we only have Jock to fight them off," Lina commented, blowing out a breath at the thought of it.

Peter placed a cigarette in his mouth "The jammy bastard would do it though, he'd take them all and live to tell the tale," lighting the match, he smiled.

The matter was, Peter was probably right, Jock was not just gifted but had a strange knack for coming out the victor in the diciest of situations.

"Right lads-," Paul clapped his hands "-,lady," he nodded at Lina before returning to addressing them all, an odd tenseness in his face "We have new blood joining us,"

The men huddled in - Jock using Tinker to lean on - with equal intrigue and disgruntlement.

Being the new member of an established Squadron was never easy, for both the old and new.

Not when they would have to get used to each other's style of flight and fighting, let alone personalities.

More men were never a bad thing in essence, but it often created tensions.

Pride and egos would flare whenever a new man came into the fold.

Paul scoped them all, but he lingered far longer on Lina, there was something in the crease of his brow that she didn't like, and she knew what it was about to be.

"As of today we have three new members-," Paul pointed back over to the main building "-,Eric Scheer, Elijah Jones, and," he hesitated to speak the last "...Marcus Buckler."

There was no need to look to know that the rest of Lina's team were all looking at her, they knew just as much as Paul did.

"Shit. Thompson, could you be any more an arsehole for that," Andy scoffed, arms previously folded snapping against his sides.

Barnaby shook his head slow "At least take her off to the side and say it first,"

The hard slap of something cold on Lina's chest broke her out the stupor, hand cradling the bottle Jock pressed against her.

"Have a drink lass, you lookin' a wee pale," Jock let go of the whiskey bottle, clapping her on the back.

Swigging deep from the bottle Lina wasn't sure if she was happy, or angry.

Ten months passed, and in that time, Lina came to terms with their deaths.

Victoria had lied all this time, forced Lina to publicly sell the idea that Elias was Knud's legitimised heir.

Now, Elias's birth father was there in the flesh, alive and well.

"Go easy on that," Peter tried to take the bottle out Lina's hand, but only got a hand on the shoulder from Barnaby "She needs it. Let her have it,"

The whiskey scorched Lina's tongue and throat, but she didn't stop drinking until she needed a breath.

With a short gasp, Lina wiped her mouth with the back of a hand.

"It's fine," Lina announced to their worrisome faces "I'm fine."

Snatching the cigarette out Peter's hand Lina paced around the table, dropping into the chair hard.

The bristle of a second chair being pulled up made Lina turn when Paul dropped into it, sitting forward, close enough to speak and only Lina here.

"I'm sorry," Paul expressed his regret earnestly, his hands pressed together "I didn't know how else to say it, other than to say it," he added, pressing his lips into a thin line after.

Lina could understand Paul's viewpoint.

How did someone break the news that a person, three to be precise, previously thought dead was actually alive?

There was no tactful or straightforward way to present the conversation, not realistically.

Lina would have to be told, and whether it was done gently or bluntly, the impact would have been the same.

There was no way to prepare for it other than to face it.

Eyes coming up when Paul took Lina's hand in his, the form squeeze on her fingers broke them from the tingling numbness that prickled over the skin.

"I will understand," Paul spoke quietly "If you need space," he ran his thumb across Lina's knuckles "I know you were more than just friends with him, so I will understand."

Listening to Paul make peace with the idea that what they barely managed to get off the ground could just have been made to do a forced landing, Lina blinked back the tears.

Convinced entirely that motherhood softened her a little too much, Lina leant over to Paul, placing a soft kiss on his cheek.

There were no words that could accurately depict how thankful she was for Paul, or even for how he was approaching the matter of Lina's conflicted feelings.

"I wanted it to work," Lina whispered, dropping her head to rest on Paul's shoulder.

It was all Lina managed to say before Paul placed a kiss in her hair "I know," he sat back, making one last squeeze on her hand "I did too,"

Drawing in a deep breath, Paul stood up, professionalism back in place with no less than a blink.

"We have a briefing in ten-," Paul announced, throwing the discarded shirt at Jock "-,Get him sobered." Ordering them, Paul said nothing else before leaving, walking back across the grass to the main building.

Left with only the men who over their years serving together had become more like family, Lina didn't object when Andy picked her up, throwing her over a shoulder.

"Time to sober the Scotsman!" Barnaby hollered, grabbing Jock under one arm, Peter on the other "And the only way to do that is putting him in the drink!"

Tinker ran up to catch Jock's kicking legs, securing them under his arms.

"Poot me down'!" Jock shouted, squirming and thrashing as they made a merry pace to the fields "I swear I'll kill yer'all!"

Put down briefly to hop on Andy's back, Lina held on with one arm, the other directing their troupe toward the bog pit.

Distraction working Lina even had the cheer in her to join in with the singing.

"Oh, the grand old Duke of York, he had ten thousand men," they sang, turning their walks into a march," He marched them up to the top of the hill, and he marched them down again!"

Making a steady pace across the grass, Andy stopped when Peter and Tinker fought with Jock to throw him in the bog.

Raucous laughter painted the air when Peter and Tinker ended up falling into the muddy stinking pit instead, Jock stood upright, roaring like he was the victor of a boxing match.

"Nobody puts Jock in the drink!" Jock shouted, circling the bog's edge as Barnaby tried to help Peter out, but ended up pushed in by Jock.

Watching Jock goad the three fighting with the bog to be free, Lina laid her chin on Andy's head "Was she good?"

Andy tilted his head to look up "A damn angel," he snickered, looking very proud of himself.

Grinning, Lina ruffled Andy's hair "We better save them," she grumbled, hopping down from his back.

Approaching the edge, Lina caught Tinker's flailing hand, digging in her boots to pull him up.

In just under ten minutes Lina would come face to face with the living ghosts of three men - and she wasn't ready for it.


	51. Sunday

Getting the three out the bog pit took longer than first thought - long enough that no time was spare for them to shower.

Trooping in - three of them an interesting shade of brown - they nodded to Paul as they passed by his stressed visage, all with a muttered: "Sir."

Chairs set up in rows before the projector screen; a space was left down the centre not to block the film or slides that would be shown.

Their group looked to be the last to arrive, and a few others turned in their seats and craned their necks to get a good glimpse of Peter, Barnaby and Tinker in their bog painted clothes.

Thinking it better not to play up any further with their Group Captain standing and waiting, they filed into the front row with some hustle in their steps.

"Dare I ask Thompson as to why your lot looks like they had a battle with pigs-," Group Captain Haines asked, his drawl slow "-,And lost."

Being front right row, the six were singled out - or rather one half of them.

Paul paced down the gangway "I am afraid I can not explain why that would be Sir," he answered, voice strained "But I will be certain to find out."

Eyes locked on all of them, all Paul got back were three smiles and three middle fingers.

Paul was the one who told them to sober Jock up - it just backfired.

Sitting between Andy and Jock, legs crossed and hands curled into fists, Lina did not turn around to look at the others - they were in the middle left row.

During their short walk of shame into the debriefing room, Lina clocked sight of the three ghosts who were now living phantoms, keeping her eyes straight ahead as she walked.

A time would come for them to meet, but Lina wanted - needed - a little longer before it happened.

Haines shoulders raised as he drew in a long breath that sounded somewhere between irritation and amusement - the man was smiling a little about it.

"Right, gentleman," Haines begun, pausing when multiple, false coughs rippled from the room "Ah, yes, my apologies," he peered curiously at Lina "And lady," a polite -sarcastic - bow of the head followed.

"What lady?" A shout came from the back row; it was jesting.

Arm raised Lina threw up the middle finger "Swivel Farrow!" She cut back.

Farrow was quick on Lina's heels "Is that a promise?"

Jock turned "She'd eat you alive."

A chorus of sniggers and snorts rippled around the room, dismissing altogether that their Group Captain and Wing Commander were even standing and waiting to hold their briefing.

"I would bet my weeks wages that Farrow is a crier!" David called over from the other front row "A month if you make him cry!"

Lina sat forward to look down at David "I will take that second one," she called back, smiling coyly when David flashed a small wink.

Mouth in a short pouting smile Lina sat back when Haines whistled, calling for them to fall into order.

"As pleasant as your violent sexual exploits may be to discuss on this sunny afternoon-," Haines paused, rocking on his heels with hands behind his back ",-I would much rather discuss the potential of you fucking our German foes. Though I suppose, for you, that might actually be your kin," Haines narrowed his eyes on Lina "Wouldn't it, little Queen of Mountbatten."

Head cocked a little Lina met Haines with a patient smile "Do you want to bend your knee?" She asked, "Or shall I break it?"

Haines smiled, it was dark humoured "We will find that out later," he turned away, moving back to the middle of the room.

Smiling, Lina settled back in the chair leaning in when Jock leant over to whisper "Don't tell me you and him?" In her ear.

Catching Jock's devious little twinkle in his grey eyes, Lina patted his leg "Staff party before the war started," she kept lowering than a whisper "I think it helped with my father's promotion," her mouth dipped on one side, as Andy almost flopped out his chair on the other.

In a husking, breathless snigger, Andy shifted closer "Did you make him bend the knee?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Lina sat forward a little, playing with the lace of her boot when Haines peered down to the three of them, their silence falling and waiting for him to look away.

Waiting for Haines to have the whole room's attention again, Lina sat back "He bent more than a knee," her smile was wicked, and without shame.

Andy and Jock shared approving nods, their mouths fighting with grins.

"Paul," Haines called out for him, "Who are your Flight Lieutenants?"

"Jackson and Winters, Sir," Paul answered as the two men raised their hands.

Haines looked at each man, waving a hand to make them lower their arms "And your Squadron Leader?"

This time Lina put up her hand "Me, Sir."

The promotion was unexpected as it was unwarranted, Lina was out of service for ten months, but on advice from the Air, Vice-Marshall Lina was bumped up another rank.

"You." Haines sounded as shocked as he looked.

Paul looked to be ready to speak, but he stopped when Haines put out his hand and made him fall silent.

"Forgive me my dear but,-"Haines swayed a little, physically showing his disbelief "-,Have you not only returned in the last ten weeks after having a child?"

Lina was unsure why Haines felt the need to bring that subject into the discussion, but she nodded softly.

"Should you then, not be at home?" Haines made his point of view eloquently, and it was not just a matter that Lina was a woman, but a mother too "Surely your best assets are needed there?"

"It makes no difference whether I am here or at home," Lina answered, refraining from sounding contrite.

"The war won't end just because I have had a child,-" she sat forward, balancing an arm on her leg "-, He's weaned now, so I can take my breasts into the cockpit with no need to rush back, but I appreciate your flattery and concern about where they should be,"

The room was still, sucked in breaths and one low whistle was the only sound for a short time.

Haines' smile was snake-like, wily and deadly. "Then I suppose you won't mind taking those breasts over to France then, would you?" He asked with such precision of his sarcasm that it almost came out like a genuine question.

"Well,-"Lina sat back "-That all depends, Sir," she slung one arm on the back of the chair, twisting her body a little to better see Haines.

There was a few seconds, Haines' mind working and wondering what angle Lina would take "Depends on?" He finally asked, trying not to be obvious that he was not sure what was to come.

Lina smiled, it was wholly innocent in appearance "Am I just flying them there?" She asked, "Or will they be getting some action?"

A chorus of whimpering and poorly restrained laughter gave way to howling echoes of it.

Haines's face was contrite, lips pressed into a thin line as Lina shrugged back at him.

"I imagine there will be some Frog who would pay for that," Haines regained some composure, a smile faintly on his lips "Though If rumour rings true, you will give them as much action as they want for free,"

"I charge every day except on a Sunday," Lina raised a hand "No one works on Sabbaths day," she called back "And the girls need at least one day off from my hectic schedule,"

Haines stared off to the back of the room, the previous composure lost, he was desperately fighting with a smile.

There was no need for Lina to act demure with these men, they knew well enough that she was crass in tongue and wild in the bedroom - some a little better than most.

"Good," Haines cut over the dying laughter and jesting "Because it is this Sunday you will be flying out," he smiled, it was dark "Best you go while the girls take their rest,"

Meeting Haines' eye, Lina smiled though it was not kind "Sunday it shall be then."


	52. 27/03/1941

News delivered that the three long thought dead would be joining their group back in the field, there was still time needed to prepare for coming face to face mentally.

Hiding - practically - behind a shower wall, Lina sat on a turned over bucket while Barnaby, Peter and Tinker showered.

Shower room steamed up the condensation dribbled down the tiles, collecting like raindrops on the ends of Lina's lashes only to be blinked away.

"I have to ask," Peter raised his voice above the rush of the showerhead "Are you going to punch them?"

Lina thought about it for a second - it held appeal.

"I don't know," Lina settled for ambiguity, there was no telling how she would react once they met.

Barnaby came in with a follow-up question "Do you even want to see them? It's been ten months, and not a word from them? Arseholes." Deciding within his own two questions what he thought of them, it came without humour in its delivery.

Barnaby posed a good question though, did Lina even want to see them?

Sighing while resting her head on the shower wall, Lina shook off the dampness that licked at her fingers, delaying the inevitable would make it no less painful.

"Eyes up, lady!" Peter quipped as Lina walked the gangway, there were no curtains on the cubicles.

Wolf whistling Lina didn't even make a glimpse, sharing a room with them all there was little she had not seen of any of them.

"Wish me luck!" Lina waved herself out.

In the hall, it was cooler and much less damp.

Patting a hand through her hair Lina shook off the small water droplets, letting it down from the braided bun.

Late in the afternoon, the mess hall was still lively, their evening meal not expected until eight, they sounded to be passing the time with games and talk.

The strong impulse to leave and head home came with the damning fact that it could be classed as desertion and land Lina in a court marshalling.

Stepping in the mess hall direction, Lina paused when a door opened - it was Paul's office one specifically.

"You will be staying in block D around the back of the Naafi," Paul walked out mid-conversation "Which means you will have the whole thing to yourself."

Block D was a leaking rust bowl, and there was adequate space in Block C and B.

"We appreciate your generosity." Eric's blunt cut attitude exited the room, just as he did.

There looked not to have been any change in Eric's demeanour or emotionally dead visage.

"It was that or the bog pit." Paul's tone was dry, with no sign of goodwill to the man he was speaking too.

Eric glanced at Paul before finding Lina.

Out of the three, Eric would be the only one forgiven considering that there was nothing else beyond their working relationship.

A polite tip of the head was all that Lina offered, and Eric returned it.

"I have matters to attend. If I am not available, you can report to your Squadron Leader," Paul showed very little patience with them, and Lina was sure by the sudden tripping step of Elijah, that Paul's boot was the cause.

Paul's office door closed; it exposed the walking phantoms that Lina was forced to face.

Avoiding any eye contact form, Lina tilted her head a fraction when a soft gurgle and clomping boots came from the hall's end.

It was an adequate distraction, but of the worst variety.

"Air Commodore has been demoted!" Winters stated, his feet stomping before he held Elias out who was looking rather pleased with himself.

Brow crooked Lina leant to the side to peer at Andy who was out of breath and crying.

"Promoted. He got promoted!" Jock nodded, beaming like a proud father at Elias "Emptied his cargo all down Winters. That's earned him another few stripes,"

Silently making a little "Oh." Lina took Elias who was still pleased as punch with what he did, which allowed her to see the front of Winters shirt.

A large, goopy white patch stained the entirety of the front.

"Accident mid-flight?" Lina asked, balancing Elias on her hip.

Andy fell over, the silent tears of his laughter coming harder.

Winters said nothing, using only his arm to brush Lina aside and head into the shower room.

Lina would need to speak to Lydia about letting the men take Elias without asking or even notice.

The girl was young, but brilliant with Elias, just a little weak-kneed when it came to the men - Tinker especially.

Readying to speak to Jock her mouth slapped shut when the echoes of Barnaby, Tinker and Peter's mocking howls rolled out the shower room with a loudly shouted: "Fuck yer'selves!" From Winters.

Andy was so red in the face Lina wasn't sure if he was even breathing anymore.

Skin prickling from the three sets of eyes upon Lina's back, a long and arduous sigh fell from her mouth.

Delaying was all that Lina was doing, and no matter how long she did, the outcome would not change - but she did not want Elias there if she became too emotional.

Suspecting it would likely be anger that flared up Lina refused to become such while holding Elias - it would not be fair.

"I think Eli has had enough excitement for today," Lina smiled when Elias's head swung back and forth "Can you let them know I'm taking him home," asking Jock to pass on the message, Lina patted his arm when he put up both thumbs.

Leaving the mess hall Lina made small noises of her tongue which made Elias gurgle excitedly, stroking his soft tufts of hair, Lina cut across the grass to shorten the time it would take to reach the gate.

"If you want to speak to me-," Lina didn't turn, but she paused to reposition Elias so that he rested on her chest "-,Do so later."

Aware that someone was trailing behind, Lina didn't care to look or know who it was.

"I think now would be better than later," catching up due to the short pause, Marcus cut across Lina's path "Please?"

Either the fear of breaking down or the surety that Lina would punch Marcus, she did not look away from Elias as he started to mimic the clucks of her tongue from seconds before.

"I need to take him home," Lina objected, controlling the tremor of her voice "It can wait."

Certain that Marcus would move, Lina's chest inflated when he remained stubbornly in place.

"I'm not doing this with Elias here." Biting out the end of the sentence, Lina finally flicked her eyes to meet with Marcus's - she wished that she hadn't.

Marcus took a step forward, close enough to touch Lina - and he did - but taking great care not to cramp Elias to her chest "I don't want to argue you with you," he stated gently, the hand he laid on her arm closing a little tighter "I need you just to listen, please?"

Finding Marcus's softness in the approach odd, Lina shied out of his hand "Why are you acting strangely?" Marcus was usually confident, but there was not even a glimmer of it within him.

Whether it was intentional or not, Marcus looked down at Elias.

"You tend to temper quickly," Marcus answered, "I didn't want to risk it while you're holding your son." There was close to a trace of bitterness about the way Marcus spoke the last word.

Turning a little, bringing Elias better and much clearer into Marcus's line of sight, Lina knew her face was in a fierce scowl "Look at him, Marcus." Try as Lina might, she couldn't hide the ire in her voice "Whose eyes are those?"

Lina would never have needed the dates confirmed a mere week after Elias's birth; the eyes were tiny carbon copies of his father's.

Marcus looked - albeit with some reluctance - and swallowed hard when Elias made a gummy smile.

"Elias is your son, Marcus," Lina never once thought that she would have the chance to tell Marcus that he was a father, but here it was, and she wasn't going to let it slip away "Which you would have known if you weren't busy playing dead these last ten months,"

If anyone held the right to be bitter about the situation, it was Lina and not Marcus.

Eyes wider than seconds before, Marcus's mouth opened but closed just as swiftly once Lina confirmed that Elias was his - something about it made him appear angry.

"I was supposed to be dead." Marcus didn't snap, but it was close to one "Danny missed my heart by a mere millimetre."

Assuming that what came from Marcus's mouth was the cause behind his anger, Lina never expected to hear that Danny had come so close, but failed.

It made Lina question the authenticity of Marcus's claim.

How did Marcus, Eric and Elijah survive such a finely delivered shot even if it missed the direct target?

Frowning, profoundly, Lina failed to find cause to disbelieve Marcus's words - she wanted so much for there to be cause for the months she spent in anguish to let her be angry at him.

Marcus sighed "You hold every right to be angry at me," carefully holding Lina's face Marcus's lips pinched miserably "But I haven't been absent this long through choice."

One thing Lina could say with utter confidence when it came to Marcus - beyond that she was still stupidly in love with him - was how easily he could deconstruct her defences.

Teeth clenched to disguise the wobble starting, Lina exhaled deeply to cover the want to cry.

It would be unfair to get so upset while holding Elias; already, he was becoming fidgety and restless.

"I need to take him home. Then we can talk," Lina laid down the terms for their soon to be conversation, and Marcus accepted them, stepping aside.

Desperate to have the answers for the most miserable but equally happiest months of her life, Lina was between two states of mind.

Wanting to know as much as Lina didn't, there at least was one good thing - Elias finally had his father.

Mildly distracted Lina took full notice now that Marcus was in the Royal Air Force uniform and part of it.

Wary of a potential sabotaging Lina soon buried the concern - Marcus had told Eric in October before that he would denounce his loyalty to the Reich, the Fuhrer and Germany.

It reminded Lina what she did only a few short hours after that exact conversation.

Would it be best to tell Marcus before they spoke about where he had been rather than keep it a secret any longer?

There was a chance, and a strong one, that Elijah took the opportunity to tell Marcus already.

Thinking about the matter as a whole, Lina realised that they never named what they were.

Marcus only ever asked Lina not to sleep with Elijah and that she didn't marry Knud.

The whole time they were together, they never discussed what they were doing and what they wanted out of it. Not until Marcus quietly suggested that he hoped Lina would not be opposed if he could call her his wife one day.

Trying to hide and excuse herself behind their relationship's ambiguity was only a weak effort to omit guilt.

Tucking Elias in the crook of her arm Lina smiled softly when he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"The night before I was shot I slept with Elijah," rolling it off her tongue, Lina didn't want to look up to find out whether Marcus either already knew, all Lina wanted was to hold a clear conscience before they spoke.

There was no need to mention Paul, not as it happened when Lina believed Marcus was dead.

"He told me as such," Marcus said it with a strange sense of peace about it "I got the last laugh though," he stroked a hand over Elias's crown, forcing Lina to look up at him.

Marcus was not a man who emoted well visually, but he managed it for the shortest time while looking at Elias.

"Do you want to hold him?" After a little while, Lina asked a short smile when Marcus tried to hide his eagerness to say yes.

Stepping around, Lina waited as Marcus placed his arms beneath, allowing Lina to ease Elias into Marcus's waiting arms.

For a short time, Marcus simply looked upon Elias while he settled himself in his arms, one hand curled in Marcus's shirt.

"When was he born?" Marcus spoke soothingly, keeping his tone low so as not to disturb Elias.

Stroking Elias's cheek, Lina moved in closer when Marcus dropped an arm, wrapping it around Lina to bring her into his side.

"Twenty seventh of May, a little before midnight," Lina was through the worst part of the healing process by that point "He was seven pounds,"

Elias was seven pounds and two ounces to be precise and born at 11:59 at night - a literal minute shy of being born on the 28th.

Taking away the hand from Lina's side Marcus cupped it around the side of her neck, the thumb soothing across her cheek.

"Thank you," Marcus murmured almost without cause "For giving me a chance I never thought I would have,"

A little bemused, all Lina managed was to smile back.

Marcus mentioned only once that he never held any intention of starting a family while the outcome of the war was still uncertain - it was for that reason, he refused to date any woman.

Yet Lina somehow managed to become an exception to the promise Marcus made himself.


	53. Where Have You Been?

Speaking with the guards posted on the gates of Manston's airfield Lina secured a temporary pass for Marcus and herself to leave without risk of an accusation of desertion.

Manston was a small, quaint village.

Bombed directly only once since the outbreak of the war, it was the airfields the Luftwaffe aimed for when they managed to get above them.

The cottage Lina bought the week before her service return was on the outskirts, far enough away from the airfields to be safer, but not too far that should anything happen Lina could be there in under an hour.

Letting Marcus carry Elias while they walked Lina occasionally snuck a glance over, the fading sunlight rippling over them as it broke through the trees, they were a serene image to behold.

"The men have taken a keen role with him," Marcus raised his head "Haven't they?"

For a second Lina wasn't sure if Marcus was upset by the idea, but she soon laughed "They mean well," she assured with a pinched smile.

"They all wanted to be Elias's Godfather," laughing a little when recalling the argument that ensued when Lina said he could only have one was burned to memory.

Marcus's brow crooked a little, but he didn't seem annoyed by it, more so a little amused at the idea.

"They called him Air Commodore?" Mentioning the ranking with a curious tilt of the head, Marcus became even more so when Lina looked away with a coughing laugh.

"Well," How was Lina going to word this?

Fingers tenting together Lina wiggled her lips side to side "They picked him up last week and brought him over when I was out," it was probably best to explain from the beginning.

"They take him with them in the cockpits of the planes under repair, and make up little stories," she stopped, a laugh coming from recalling Elias's supposed adventures "He was captain Jerry Gutter when I came back, was promoted twice,"

Fingers running together, knowing that the whole thing was ridiculous but all the same hilarious, Lina smiled "He got another promotion for apparently facing Gloria and living to tell the tale,"

Gloria was a kind woman with a stern face.

"He was sick on Winters, so Jock decided it was worth another promotion," Lina finished, looking over when Elias stirred from his snooze with a soft whine.

Marcus was focused on Elias as he walked, he hadn't taken his eyes from him for most of the walk.

"Outranked by my own son," Marcus laughed softly, "I wouldn't even mind if it came true," it was more under the breath of admission, a soft frown on his face.

Before the assassination attempt, Lina was not permitted time to imagine how Marcus would be as a father, and with believing him dead, she never let it enter her mind.

Seeing Marcus now, holding Elias and how he looked upon him, Lina knew it was all that she hoped for it to be.

"After Danny failed to kill us, we had to go into hiding," Marcus chose his words carefully "A backstreet doctor that knew Elijah looked after us for months," he spoke about it with a straight face, but his tone was bitter.

Listening intently Lina waited, choosing to be patient and not rush Marcus for the details of his absence.

"It took six months to get back on my feet. Another three to secure all newspapers, bank accounts and get through the basic training to get here," Marcus's brow creased in a stressed pinch "Victoria wanted us dead. She took everything she had on file about us to the war cabinet, labelled Elijah a traitor,"

There was no second of doubt within Lina that Victoria did all that Marcus was accusing her of.

"Thankfully, Elijah held enough sway and was more inclined to break even with Victoria than sell us out," Marcus sounded surprised by the idea even though he had lived it. "Claimed a few things were the cause for Victoria's fabrications, even my being German," he lowered to a whisper when mentioning his nationality.

Worrisome that Victoria's vendetta would only be stoked on learning that Marcus and the others were alive, Lina close to forgot the power of the house laid in her hands now.

If Victoria tried again to vilify the three men, Lina could have Victoria detained for more than slander; she could prove three attempts of murder.

Power was a peculiar, fickle entity to possess.

"Victoria has no idea that we are alive," Marcus continued with angry gravel "But, she knows a great deal more than she should about our side,"

Stopping sharply, Lina met Marcus's hesitant gaze - there was something he needed to speak of.

"Victoria ordered Vilem's death," Marcus broke the news softly "If he didn't, the bluebird, John, was to kill you,"

Lina's breath was stolen, limbs seizing as though all the blood was drained out of them and she was left not even with a tingle of the numbness.

"Lina?" Marcus approached, placing a hand to her face "I know this is going to be hard to hear, but Vilem died to let you live," he enunciated each word with delicate care "We still don't know what it was that he did that caused Victoria to make the order, but she is the one who put the gun in Vilem's hand,"

Lina knew that Marcus meant it figuratively, that it was Victoria's hand that had pulled the trigger on Vilem's temple, but it made it no easier a truth to swallow.

How many more liars, snakes and deviants were Lina surrounded by?

Blinking hard to break out the rigidity when Elias gave a short cry, Lina looked at Marcus for only a second before finding Elias.

Did Vilem choose to end his life beside Lina to prompt her to look for the reason why?

The letter with the sketch of John's tattoo, was that another of Vilem's efforts to make Lina search for the answers?

How deep did this web go?

"We know Vilem did something that ended with our U-boats knowing where to sink four of the British Navy's," Marcus spoke in a soft breath "But we don't know the why's behind it," he added rapidly, trying to keep it from sounding like a besmirching of Vilem.

Hands raised, but not touching Marcus's face Lina sucked in a long and low breath.

This was never even close to what Lina expected to hear from Marcus, and she knew that it was only the surface of what was still to come.

"Lina," Marcus maintained the whisper "You can not trust that woman, no matter what she says, she can not be trusted," he spoke firmly, pausing for a second before giving one final puzzle piece that had long been missing.

"Victoria ordered for you to be shot," Marcus's brow pinched angrily "To kill our son."

Blood rushing back into her veins, it came icily, freezing cold.

"I didn't know it at the time, but you were out of surgery and both of you safe hours before Victoria summoned us to her office," Marcus carried on, showing urgency to tell Lina as much as he could and quickly "She knew that her efforts failed and that we would look too closely at it,"

Experiencing the shock once of a friend - or at least someone Lina believed a friend - turning a gun on her, Lina never once thought she would learn that her own family would do it.

Lina almost lost Elias, because of Victoria.

Not wanting to think how life would be should the shot not have missed, Lina, just for a moment, wanted to take Elias from Marcus, to hold him close.

Finally, Lina let her hands fall and rest on Marcus's face, fingers tracing the sharp angular lines.

"I'm sorry," feeling as though it was Marcus who was owed an apology for all that Lina, directly and indirectly, had done to him.

Tentatively Marcus brought his mouth to Lina's; there was uncertainty like Marcus expected Lina to deny him.

For ten long months, Lina wanted nothing else other than to have Marcus back in every way to let him see the son they shared.

All of which was stolen due to the unknown machinations of a woman who also stole Lina's older brother's life.

Separating a little, Lina bit back the sob, and chose instead to laugh.

Marcus's smile was softer than any he wore before; it too was a little sad.

All that Lina could be thankful for was that Marcus was back and alive, and she didn't plan to let him slip through her fingers again.


	54. Fritz & The Dolphins

Standing on parade at six am sharp - they all held strong chins and were sharply focused on the flagpole.

No one dared to breathe, and no one blinked.

Standing and staring hard at the men lined up in four rows of five - Lina taking centre front on her own - Group Captain Haines and Wing Commander Thompson searched their faces for a drop of sweat.

There was nothing.

They stood firm like a wall, hardy and robust.

Between the Squadron and their commanding officers were three chairs, tied back to back, and three men tied to them so tight they couldn’t even lift their little fingers.

“So,” Haines started, his voice a boom in the foggy morning “You have no idea how this happened?” He asked, one brow curved and vanishing under the lip of his cap.

Being the Squadron Leader, it was Lina who would have to speak in place of the men.

“As I already said, we came out when called and found them here,” Lina managed to sound surprised by the turn of events “We know about as much as you do, Sir.”

Truth be told, Lina held no idea that Marcus, Elijah and Eric had been subjected to a relatively tame hazing by the Squadron - until she came out.

Haines was exasperated, and he showed little patience for their hijinks and their silence.

“Who did it then?” He barked “The Germans?!”

Lina sucked in a slow breath “Could have been, Sir,” she nodded “Who knows what cheap and nasty tricks they have up their sleeves?”

For a second Lina caught the warning in Paul’s eyes and ignored it.

“Are you telling me, a group of Fritz’s swam the channel, travelled inland, just to tie up these three specifically-“ his pitch was rising with his lacking patience “-,Just to dump them on the parade ground?!”

There was an opportunity to have fun with this.

“Do you think they did the backstroke, Sir? To save energy?” She asked, sincerely.

Haines head cocked “Oh I thought they would have glided on the back of dolphins.” He shrugged casually before slapping his hands against his thighs “How the hell would I know?!”

“Dolphins?” Lina considered “Does the German Naval fleet have them at their disposal?”

“I would think not,” Haines answered, trying to recover and not give Lina anymore to use against him.

Lina considered for a second “The Russians use dogs, it could be a valuable piece of information for the war cabinet to know.”

Striding forward - around the three still tied up - Haines stopped once his boots were toe to toe with Lina’s.

“Are you going to ride on the back of my German theory or give me a straight answer?” Haines demanded in a low hiss, face inches from Lina’s

Lina nodded “Your German theory is plausible.”

“Plau—?!” Haines started, a hand up as he tried to soothe himself with a breath.

“Lina my dear, I appreciate your loyalty to these men, but this is a parade ground, not a playground,” he was stressed, his handsome face contorted.

“Tell that to the Fritz who did it,” Lina responded, “Not me.”

Haines crushed his hat in hand; lips curled back so tightly they were lost in his mouth.

“If I may, Sir,” Lina started “I find yourself highly suspect.”

Haines calmed down, but only due to his utter disbelief.

“You were here before us. It could have been you,” pointing out that Haines was already there before they trooped onto the parade ground, Lina took a hand out from behind her back.

“Your sudden blaming of the Germans and their Dolphins makes me think it is to cover for your little prank gone wrong. In our opinion,” Lina turned a little to look at the men behind, before facing Haines with a smile.

Behind the men gave short shouts of agreement.

The vein in Haines temple twitched, almost like it snapped, and so had he.

Haines threw down his hat “I’ve had it!” He shouted, starting to stomp off the parade ground “I can’t deal with you at this hour in the morning!”

Lina turned a little to watch Haines departure “Sir!” Shouting after him, a second was left for him to turn “You best take your hat before Fritz nicks that too!” She picked it up, waving it between her fingers “Or was it the Dolphins?”

The strained and strangled screaming of Haines was all that echoed over the airbase as he disappeared into the morning fog.

Relieved of their Group Captain the cap he left behind spun on a single finger “Alright you workhouse defects,” Lina faced them as she spoke, “Hands up.”

Peter, Winters, Jock, Andy and Barnaby admitted their guilt merrily and with cheer.

“Found Fritz and his Dolphins, Paul,” calling back over to where Paul was stressfully massaging his temples with a finger and thumb, palm over his eyes it came with a smile.

“Could you,” Paul held out one hand, the other still over his face “Behave for five seconds. Please.” He shouted at them “Cause I am the one who has to explain this in the reports as to why I have been landed with the biggest group of mentally retarded pilots,” his hand dropped “And I am running out of excuses,”

Paul was always left explaining the utter stupidity of their team to the higher-ups with all things considered.

“I think due to said mental retardation we should be given an extra allowance for the things that we do,” Lina countered, still spinning Haines cap “Don’t you?”

Paul didn’t even speak; he just left the parade ground.

Watching the second departure, Lina smiled, she was going to get it in the neck for this farce later, and she knew it.

“Alright, fall out, or over,” Lina yawned “I don’t care just piss off,” it came with a short smile “I haven’t even had my morning tea,”

Stretching with a yawn Haines cap was stuffed in the back pocket of her trousers as the men mumbled and yawned, falling out of line with absolutely no signs they had ever started basic training let alone finished it.

Lina didn’t get to sleep until he went three that morning, head too busy to hold a more in-depth conversation about the last ten months after what Marcus revealed, she had asked him to give her some time to let it sink in.

Not wanting to waste the time they were afforded to be off base, Lina let Lydia go home for a few hours so that Marcus could spend time with Elias before he would be put to bed.

With a rough guess when Marcus and Lina went back to their blocks, it gave the window of time for their being tied up.

Hands on hips Lina sauntered to the middle of the parade ground, head shaking when she came to a stop, arms folding.

“I don’t know whether to be impressed,” Lina reached out to take the gag out of Eric’s mouth “Or ashamed of you three,”

Eric’s eyes narrowed “Untie me. Now.” It came out with a little croaking, his mouth probably dry from the rag stuffed in it.

Unsheathing the small blade from a boot, Lina spun it “Manners first,” she smiled, Eric’s widening gaze something of a picture with how irked his face was.

Cutting the ropes at Eric’s ankles first, Lina took care when releasing his hands; the arms were forcibly linked with Marcus and Elijah’s.

Like a jack in the box, Eric sprung out of the chair, the rope burns on his wrist raw.

“I hope you won’t mind finding replacements,” Eric uttered darkly “And soon.” He added, eyes zeroing in on the men who waved cheerily back at him.

Lina snorted softly “Don’t take out your failings on them,” Lina freed Elijah of his gag “Learn from it. This is only the beginning,” she cut loose Elijah’s feet, freeing his arm from where it twisted with Marcus’s.

Lina knew the men well, and what they did to the three was tame by any other name.

“Next time they won’t be so lucky,” Elijah grumbled, rubbing a wrist.

“Need I remind you that this would be the second time they caught you out?” Lina let the knife bob over her hand, tapping its handle with her thumb “You went for a swim in pigswill last time,”

Reminding Elijah that it was the second occasion that he was caught up in their pranks, Lina’s smile was bitter when Elijah looked at her.

The promise being broken of saying nothing about their moment in the bathroom only served for a more legitimate reason for Lina not to trust Elijah, even if it was his contacts who saved Marcus from his inevitable death.

Still, there were many blanks and missed out pieces of the time Lina thought they were dead that needed to be filled in, but free time was hard to come by to allow them to sit and talk.

The snippet learnt about John’s affiliation with Victoria also meant that there could well be another mole among the men - though Lina hoped it would not be true.

There would only be one definable way to know if there was, and that would be Victoria’s discovery that three of her skeletons never even made it into her closet.

Lina would not be able to spare much time, not with the upcoming meeting and debriefing to be held with Haines over sending Lina over to France on Sunday.

It was Wednesday already, and reasons and plan dependent, much of Lina’s time would be occupied with preparing for it.

Showing more care while setting Marcus free of his binds, Lina didn’t step back straight away when he placed a hand on her thigh, tugging her in closer.

Aware that the men were still on the parade ground, Lina closed her eyes with a small shake of the head.

Scuffing a hand through Marcus’s hair, Lina smiled a little when he angled away, and his hand left her leg.

“You all should probably skip the showers until after they’re done,” Lina lifted her leg to slot the knife back “I don’t think they’re finished with you yet,” securing the blade in place Lina could see the mirthful, mischievous glints in their eyes.

Eric shot a look from the Squadron to Lina.

“I have no qualms with you, so why am I being tarred with their brush?” Eric wasn’t objectifying his treatment but rather was soured that he was mucked in with the other two.

Shoulders lifting Lina could not offer reason or insight for Eric being targeted, other than he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“I ca—?!” Stopped from speaking by a hand clapping over the mouth Lina peered at its owner dubiously when Freddie didn’t talk straight away.

A little slow at times, Freddie stood for a second with his hand still over Lina’s mouth without so much as a clue that he would speak.

“The general consensus is no, ma’am,” Freddie bobbed his head, before taking away the hand “Jackson and Winters will revolt should you say otherwise,”

Eyes skyward, Lina took away Freddie’s hand “I wasn’t going even to ask, so tell them they’re in the mess hall for a fortnight,” she nodded when Freddie’s smile came out, and it was wicked.

Turning around, Freddie cupped his mouth before shouting “You fucked it, lads. Mess hall duty is all yours,”

Close to unison, and from either end of the huddle, Jackson and Winters threw up their arms as if to say “Why?”

Throwing at an arm to single out Freddie, it came with a sickly sweet smile.

“You didn’t even say anything,” Elijah queried in a brow, showing some confusion over what just occurred.

The arm coming back to her side Lina held her waist “They thought I was going to ask them to be nicer to you three,” her lips pulled in to a small pout when Jackson walked by with both middle fingers up. “Which I wasn’t, but still, someone needed to do mess hall, so they can,” blowing a kiss after Jackson, it was received with a crude hand gesture.

“Your fresh meat for these hyenas. Deal with it,” Lina had little else to say on the topic, other than for them to just get on with it.

There were some biases in place from the first, and last time Elijah and Marcus met the Squadron, coupled with that was their supposed being dead, only actually to be alive.

Lina could not detail what happened, not when what was told to them was what Lina genuinely believed at the time.

Lina only omitted that it was her aunt Victoria who ordered them to be shot.

“I suppose I better put you to work for now,” Lina was the one who gave them their duties unless Paul directed that he wanted them otherwise “Eric you can go with Jock, he is on guard duty today,”

Jock and Eric were a match made for hell, Lina wanted to be the fly on the wall to watch.

“I ain’t taking the leprechaun,” Jock shook his head fiercely “I will drown it in the bog!”

Eric placed a hand calmly in his pocket “I’m not Irish, and you so much as breathe on me, I will be turning your stomach into haggis,”

Jock rolled his shoulders “Chatty one, aren’t ya’?” A fist flexed “How ‘bout I stick my boot up your arse and give you a few inches so you can at least reach my chin before you get gobby,”

Humming a pleasant little tune, Lina peered across the rows watching them all shake their heads and even nudge at others to deflect attention from themselves.

“Andy,” Lina crooked a finger.

“Fuck, no!” Andy was practically walking off as his name left Lina’s mouth.

“You don’t even know where I am sending you,” Lina tutted.

Andy stopped “I would take a day in the glasshouse as long as I ain’t paired with them.”

“You want to go to the glasshouse by choice?” Lina queried, hip swaying to the side “I can arrange it.”

Andy fidgeted, chest puffed up and showing much reluctance to speak.

“I was only going to tell you to arrange the six to fly, and four on reserve,” Lina clarified with a hand up “But if you want a turn in the glasshouse, I will ask Winters to do it,”

Andy shook his head “Well, no no...I can do that instead,”

Peter slapped Andy’s arm with a snicker, but it soon fell silent.

“Good, cause your six just became seven, and you’re taking Elijah,” Lina announced before pointing to Jackson “And you can oversee the maintenance today,”

With only seven left to make use of, Lina close to forgot Marcus would round it up to eight.

“The last of you split into two teams,” Lina didn’t care who went with who “You’re scrubbing the place to inspection standards,” they all groaned loudly, some eyeing Andy in hope to be picked for fly duty or reserve “Now I do believe it’s time to eat,”

Almost on cue, the bell rang to announce breakfast.


	55. A Year Too Late

Splitting Eric, Elijah and Marcus over the Squadron served not only in the hope of repairing their images, but also to allow them to gather anything they could.

"Are you listening?" Haines tapped the desk, forcing Lina to look away from the window she was staring out of.

Lost in thought for a while, Lina apologised softly before approaching the table with the map spread out upon it.

"You want me to pick up an informant?" Lina clarified that she heard correctly, a finger tapping the designated landing spot.

The French Riviera - Toulon to be specific.

Haines knitted his fingers sitting forward from his chair "This man could hold the information we need to turn the tide of the war in our favour," he spoke with grave importance "This will be highly classified, and I expect you to speak to no one other than the one person you shall be taking with you,"

Hearing how important the man was Lina comprehended sincerely why Haines spoke in no more than a whisper.

"How am I supposed to fly over there? They will gun me down?" Addressing the single flaw, Lina liked the conniving smile Haines wore.

Sitting back, one arm laid down while the other provided rest for his chin, Haines wiles were prominent on his face "We have you a present, two in fact," he didn't elaborate, but instead took something out a drawer.

Between two fingers Haines held a Manila envelope "This will be waiting for you on the clifftop," passing over the envelope Haines picked his cigarette out of the ashtray "We have made it clear not to shoot you down on takeoff, but once you're out at sea the rest is down to you,"

Curious Lina slid the envelope's contents out, head shaking back in some surprise at what was inside.

"I am to fly a Bf?" Wanting to be confident that she understood the picture's purpose, Lina looked up when Haines hummed.

"Precisely that. Your capability to speak fluently, unhindered German will also help," Haines stood from the chair, fingers dragging around the edge of the desk as he walked, stopping when beside Lina "You will need a co-pilot, someone you trust without a second of hesitation,"

Already Lina knew the best person for the job, but it too could place him at risk.

"Marcus Buckler would best fit that role," replacing the photo Lina handed it back "I can trust him." Saying it with utter surety, Lina watched Haines brow narrow in the centre.

To anyone else who did not know, there were better options. For Lina choosing to take Marcus was the best option.

"Forgive my intrusion, my dear, but,-"Haines prodded Lina's chest, it wasn't hard "-,You tossed Paul out your bed a second after this man showed up. History?"

Haines wording was not particularly fair to Paul or Lina's decision to end their budding relationship, but neither was it wrong.

"There is history there, yes," brushing away Haines finger Lina didn't need to elaborate any further, but she did say one thing "He is the best man for this job."

Who else would be better than Marcus, who was literally a German, but knew the planes they would be taking inside and out.

There too was the fact Marcus would better be able to navigate them should any problems occur.

Haines looked to be in consideration of Lina's words, fingers slowly stroking his chin.

"Alright then," resuming his seat before speaking again, Haines appeared to be assured of Lina's choice "We will speak again Friday morning, bring Buckler with you too," he added with a sharp eye "Dismissed."

Choosing not to salute as she should have, Lina didn't miss Haines short, exhausted sigh.

Managing to avoid being read the riot act for that morning's incident on the parade ground, Lina was happy enough to dodge a bullet from Haines's mouth for the day.

Departing the office, Lina barely had the door closed when the obnoxious rustling of a newspaper made her look up.

"In the evening hours of the twenty-seventh of May, her royal highness, Princess Lina of Denmark, widow of Prince Knud of Denmark, went into premature labour," Elijah flicked the article he was reading "One healthy son born, a minute shy of midnight,"

Returning a flat stare, Lina marched across the hall and snatched the paper out of Elijah's hand.

"He's not yours," Lina stated, tossing the paper into a bin.

Elijah pushed off the wall "Well, according to the papers, he's not Marcus's either."

"Elias wasn't premature. He arrived when he should have, which means I fell pregnant with him in August of last year-," she stabbed a finger to Elijah's chest "-,You didn't even get a dip in me until the later part of September. Do the math."

Walking away and with nothing else to say, Lina regretted placing Elijah on fly duty - it gave him too much free time.

"I did the math. Many times," Elijah was on Lina's heel "But how the hell am I supposed to trust that he wasn't premature?" He spoke in a growling whisper, catching Lina by the arm.

Before Lina needed to take care with her body, this time she didn't.

Grabbing Elijah's wrist, Lina twisted it in time with a sweeping kick.

Elijah landed on his knees hard, the arm Lina held up against his back, a punch to his ribs forced Elijah to bow down.

"I will say this only once, don't fucking touch me." Biting out the warning Lina let go of Elijah's arm and kicked him in the back.

Stepping around Elijah more like a prowl Lina stopped to stand in front as Elijah looked up in a wince, holding his ribs.

"You knew," there was a soft wheeze in Elijah's speech "All this time you knew who he was, didn't you?"

This was not the place to discuss the topic, and so Lina walked away, opening the door of an empty briefing room.

Without telling Elijah, a groaning heave put him back on his feet.

A hand sarcastically sweeping to encourage Elijah to enter the room. First, Lina checked the hall was empty before closing the door behind.

Walking around the outskirts of the tables, Lina stopped when there was adequate space between them.

"Yes, I knew. It took me three weeks to figure it out, put him on the spot, and once I did I broke his fucking fingers and let him know that if I asked him to jump-," she stopped clicking her fingers "-,Then he better ask how high."

From the second Lina had confirmation that Marcus was not who he claimed to be, Lina made it known that he was merely a pawn for her to play with - that was all Marcus supposed to be.

Elijah reeled backwards, openly startled and somewhat alarmed by what Lina said.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell anyone?!" Elijah was angry, and not afraid to show it with a devastating kick to a chair - it broke on hitting the wall.

Mouth pressed to a thin line Lina kept her calm when Elijah stomped forward, throwing the table between them out the way.

"I spent months following you around, to make sure you were safe, and you knew. You bloody, fucking, knew?!" Elijah gesticulated, hands clawed in the air either side of her face "This whole god damn time I thought he had something over you, but no, you were just fucking him because you could."

Listening patiently to Elijah's tangent Lina picked out a few minor details that were of most importance out of all he spouted.

"I told you already that I gave you the chance to tell me why you were like an annoying, buzzing, insect in my ear, you missed it." Reminding Elijah of their talk before Lina had him arrested, she flicked up a finger.

"You never mentioned it was all because you were concerned for my safety," there was never much said about it, only that it was even suggested "Though I appreciate your dismal efforts,"

Face set in a scowl, Elijah shook his head.

"Don't you dare turn this around on me," he jabbed a finger back at Lina "I tried to get you to tell me. I had no idea what was going on, and I didn't want to risk you by playing my hand too soon,"

Lina laughed softly "Did you want me to trust you, or just fuck you?" A careless and dismissive shrug lifted a shoulder "Cause you only ever managed to get one of those out of me,"

As sweet and roguish as Elijah was and could be, there was nothing that he said or did that ever let Lina even want to think about placing any faith in him.

"If you were so concerned for me, you would not have left me in a place where he would have wanted to do me wrong; I would have been unable to stop it," laying it out in a clear and precise way, Lina shook her head slowly.

"Face it, Elijah. He is, who he is," they both knew Marcus's true identity; it was no secret between them.

"He was honest with me the moment I confronted him, and has been ever since. Unlike you," searching in a pocket, Lina pulled out the cigarette case, popping it open and taking one out "He actually has been the entire opposite of everything you have been,"

Snapping the case closed Lina bit on the tip of the cigarette, lighting it.

"You shot yourself in the foot with this, and your issue now is you lost out to a damn Jerry," she smiled, it was mocking "You couldn't even keep your mouth shut about us when you promised that you would,"

Taking a long inhale, Lina held the smoke in her mouth, letting it scorch over her tongue "So go on, ask me to trust you again," she exhaled "This time without your dick in me,"

Pulling himself straight, Elijah stood with shoulders back, head angled to stare down at Lina.

When Elijah didn't speak, Lina smiled, it was close to coy, but not entirely.

"Better yet," Lina took a step closer, walking two fingers up Elijah's torso "Tell me you love me again," it came out in a softly husking whisper, a purr almost.

Elijah's breath cut short, like he wanted to speak but stopped himself.

"See, you didn't struggle this much when there was only a shower curtain between us," Lina stroked across Elijah's bearded jaw "Though I suppose you thought I was none the wiser to your little games back then,"

Elijah's hand hovered over Lina's without touching, the hardness of his gaze gone within a few blinks "I meant it then," he mumbled, lacking all previous confidence "And I still do now,"

There was earnest sincerity within Elijah, and it was illuminating to witness - but it was a year too late.

"If only you had been this honest with me back then," fading away into a whisper, Lina took away her hand "I could have loved you back, Elijah."

Should Elijah not have fooled around with Lina so much, wavering his chances for her to place trust in him, things could have been different between them, she was sure of it.


	56. The Truth Has Many Faces

Morning stretched into a long, dull, afternoon.

No call made to take to the skies did not mean they could kick back and relax; there were still hours left that the call could come.

Eleven Squadron was not the only one based at Manston, there was Fourteen Squadron too, though they kept more to themselves and rarely stepped over to say more than hello.

Which was why on entering the mess hall, Lina ground to a halt.

There was a peculiar atmosphere that afternoon on entering the mess halls, and for once not from Lina's lot getting up to mischief.

Finished inspecting the cleaning, Lina was satisfied that no one slacked off and did not need to bring any of them back to get it done properly.

Mess hall made up of long bench tables; there was a noticeable divide between the two squadrons.

A tenseness gripped the air, putting it in a chokehold.

Checking that Eric, Marcus and Elijah were sat down and not stabbed or worse, Lina let her eyes slide to the other tables.

There were two new faces in Fourteen Squadron that sent Lina's stomach into a drop like it had been filled with cement.

Sat and sipping tea like there was nothing amiss within the room was none other than Lina's cousin Flaxon.

Next to Flaxon was his younger half brother, Luis.

From the half of the room that Lina's Squadron occupied, they all chucked looks over, watching like a group of beady-eyed gulls to see if figurative chips were about to be thrown for them to gobble.

Approaching the table, Lina's face lit up when Luis practically tripped out his seat to come around and meet her.

"Hello," Lina laughed when Luis - rather excitedly - came in for a hug.

Squeezed a little too hard with Luis's over-enthusiasm, Lina's boots left the floor for a second before he put her down.

"I've been waiting for you," Luis announced, the presence of his youth a delight to behold "I didn't think I would be posted here after basic training, but they sent me here this afternoon,"

Scuffing a hand through Luis's hair, Lina had a short sinking of her heart - Luis was only just eighteen, he should not have been there.

"It's good to see you," Lina smiled, though it came a little forced, between the two brothers, Luis was the better, and because of that, she did not want him here.

Flaxon placed down the teacup, sliding across the table "Not going to say he—?!"

"Shut up." Lina smacked a hand over Flaxon's face.

After Lina's wedding's disastrous events, being sworn in Elias's birth, a truce was called between them.

Stripped of his titles, and therefore any chance of taking Lina's position, Flaxon was not left penniless by Lina's goodwill.

They hated each other, but they hated Aunt Victoria more.

"Good to see some things will never change," Flaxon spoke, curling his fingers around Lina's wrist to remove her hand "Dearest cousin."

Effortless as it was to return to their usual exchanging of barbs and viciousness, Lina also did not struggle with being civil.

"It's best not to upset the apple cart too much," Lina shook off Flaxon's hand, bringing it to fold with the other at her chest.

Nothing was spoken for a short time, not by tongue at least.

There was a specific reason Flaxon was there, and not purely for fulfilling his assigned position.

"My father pulled some strings to have us sent here for a short time," Flaxon dropped off to a whisper as he stood up "You owe him a great thanks by the way," flicking his eyes to the other side of the room, they lingered on Marcus, Elijah and Eric.

The doctor Elijah knew was Lina's uncle Jeter?

Needing not to draw much more attention, Flaxon leaned in on Lina's shoulder as he whispered to her ear.

"Danny sends his regards and apology. He missed on purpose, but could not do so obviously," Flaxon didn't even place a breath in his words, making the meeting of his lips and tongue create soft but precise enunciations. "He had my father waiting where Danny was to take their bodies," scratching a finger on his temple, Flaxon stepped back and allowed Lina space.

With another puzzle piece in hand, Lina tried to figure out where to place it with what Marcus told Lina.

"My father is the physician to the central intelligence, hence how Elijah knew him," Flaxon elaborated "He also offers his services for a handsome fee not to talk should you turn up with something that the constabulary would put a keen eye on,"

Detailing why Marcus believed Jeter to be a backstreet doctor, Lina met Flaxon's eyes when he made a single nod.

Thankful for what Jeter had done, Lina could not see that and a message from Danny being the only cause for Flaxon pulling strings to have his placement be at Manston.

"Victoria dropped this," something slipped in Lina's pocket "Which Danny was most insistent about it needing to be dropped with you,"

Being sure not to touch or even show that Flaxon put anything in the pocket Lina could only imagine what it would be for Danny to want it to come into Lina's hand.

"Now slap me before anyone thinks we are—!"

Lina was probably a little too zealous with it, but she punched Flaxon hard enough to fall back against the table.

Luis stood wide-eyed and a little unsure, eyes flicking back and forth between them.

Shaking off the tingle of the fist, Lina smiled when the Wing Commander of Fourteen Squadron stood up.

"You might get away with your insubordination with your Commander, but I won't have it." Tipper barked down the row, eyes like dying coals fixed on Lina.

Meeting Tipper with a crude smile, Lina patted Flaxon's shoulder and pushed him aside.

"Then what shall it be Tipps? Beasting, disciplinary, glasshouse?" Walking behind the men of Fourteen Squadron, Lina paused when she was within walking distance of Tipper "Shall we take this to Haines now, or shall I wait for your pen pushing arse to file the official report?"

Tipper stood firm, he was not so easily shaken by Lina, and for that, Lina respected him more.

"If you think I am going to Haines so you can sweet-talk your way out then you are mistaken," Tipper stepped over the bench "Outside. Now." Clicking his fingers and pointing to the door, Tipper took the lead.

"Can I at least punch you too and make this more worthwhile than a short family tiff?" Lina asked, hands in pockets as she trailed after Tipper, it was a long time since Lina had to face any form of disciplinary action.

Tipper stopped walking, rounding so sharply on Lina that she nearly fell backwards.

"I will give you one free hit." Tipper placed his arms behind his back "You knock me down; we shall forget this happened,"

Laying down the gauntlet, Lina smiled back at Tipper "Now who is sweet-talking who?" She cooed, head cocked a fraction.

Tipper scoffed "I will serenade you if you manage this,"

Challenging Lina, there was a few seconds of deliberation.

"Give me some motivation at least," Lina quipped, flexing her fingers for a second, she froze when Tipper pressed his mouth to her ear.

"Nazi-Hure." Tipper practically spat the two words in her ear, his accent coming through strongly with it.

Lina didn't throw a punch, but she did wrap a hand around Tippers throat, forcing him back and up the wall, his feet kicking.

"You speak bloody good German for an Englishman," Lina didn't make it quiet, but announced it loudly to the room.

Tippers eyes bulged a little wider, the smile once cocky and goading becoming a twisted, mangled display of anger.

It was not so much what Tipper said, but that with his pressing in close it pressed his shirt thinly on his chest - and there was a tattoo of a bluebird exactly of John's.

Was the 'Bluebird' a network?

Lina could not be sure what or who started it, but it sounded like a war broke out from behind.

The clatter and clashing of chairs and plates accompanied shouts.

Half of the shouts were in German.

Eyes opening wide Lina only missed the tip of Tippers blade by an inch when she hopped back, dropping him.

Unable to take eyes off Tipper to see what was going on, Lina snatched the knife out of her boot, readying it.

Three individual shots in the air ordered their cease and desist.

The mess hall stopped, a few short scuffles and one last thrown punch, the place became quieter than the grave.

"Arrest them." Haines authoritative below shook the hall "Should any resist-," he turned to the man in charge of the MP "-,Shoot."

Armed, and wearing the familiar white armbands with the two large letters stitched on to signal them as the Military Police, they stormed the room, coming in droves.

How did Haines manage to rally up the MP's so soon?

They were not even on Manston airbase.

Expecting to be approached, Lina turned in a short stupor to see who the MP's were rounding up.

Every member of Fourteen Squadron - Luis And Flaxon not included - were being slapped in cuffs.

Searching around the room, Lina found Marcus with a slightly bloody lip and with a Pilot from Fourteen Squadron in a grapple.

For a tense moment, Lina feared that Marcus - Eric too - were about to face arrest.

When the MP took the man from Marcus and walked on by Eric, the strained squeeze in her chest, let go, allowing her to breath a little.

Why now did they snap and break their cover?

Lina only called out Tipper - if that was even his name.

Gliding a look to Haines, there came a second of a surprise to see him watching Lina.

By the subtle and sly smile on Haines's lips, Lina realised it was no coincidence that he came prepared with the MP's, Haines knew.

Taking the item, Flaxon slipped in Lina's pocket she opened it, eyes gliding over the pages scanning every loop and swirl of Aunt Victoria's writing.

Crushing the paper up in a palm, Lina's chest heaved and swelled when Haines made a short smile and a polite tip of the head.

Drawing in a long and deep breath Lina sunk towards the back of the room while the MP rounded up Fourteen Squadron - looking at each man in turn.

Thinking back to the quote within the bluebird drawing letter, Lina felt she better understood its purpose.

It is not truth that matters, but victory.

Even if Lina never learned all the secrets that Vilem took to the grave, she had to aim for victory.


	57. Abbot Haines

Once more returning to Haines office, its purpose was of a different kind than that morning.

Thirteen years Lina's senior Abbot Haines was a tall, slightly rugged, yet handsome man.

Sandy-haired, lightly tanned from years spent in the airfields, and with a cold astute smile that never seemed to depart him.

Lina stood on the other side of the desk as she had that morning, this time no flight plans or landing maps between them, Lina held the single slip of paper between two fingers.

"Are you going to tell me why my Aunt Victoria deemed you threatening enough to want you dead," the paper was tossed down, "Or am I going to have to beat it out of you?"

Lounged back in the chair - effortlessly nonchalant - Haines rested his face on two fingers, the thumb supporting his strong chin, and he said nothing.

Threatening violence to eleven squadrons Group Captain was not how Lina intended to handle the matter of Fourteen Squadron's arrest, but Haines' silence was testing.

Now more than ever, Lina needed to be sure who she could count as a friend and the enemy.

Suspecting Haines to be holding dalliances with the Axel powers was a short-lived affair, but one needed to be wholly placed to bed.

"Listen," Haines sat up straight, adopting a more engaged posture, but still no less relaxed.

"I knew your father for a very long time, and he asked something quite specific of me before he passed," fingers curled, the thumb tapped off the side of them like Haines was thinking how best to word himself.

Rarely to the point of never did Lina speak of her father or hear anyone speak of him - many were too focused on Vilem's scandal, and Lina's miserable love affairs to mention him.

Haines knew Lina's father well; her father even denied the promotion to allow Haines to take it some four years before.

Lina was sure that her father's promotion from Squadron Leader to Wing Commander after Haines took another step up the ladder to become the Group Captain was to do with their short-lived affair.

Lina knew well enough that Haines was a married man with two sons and a daughter at the time of their meeting, but she hadn't paid it any mind when Haines showed more than a friendly interest in her.

Only nineteen at the time the appeal of an older more mature man was flattering, and though she kept it a tight-lipped secret, Haines was the first man she ever slept with.

For that reason, Lina didn't want to have to find that he was another man she could not trust - even if he were about to mention Lina's father as an old friend.

"The day you flew out, I made sure to keep John back," Haines sat forward, lighting a cigarette before offering Lina one, she took it. "Your father did not go down that day because of any German plane, but because his had been tampered with," a hand up stopped Lina from speaking "He knew he was going to die that day."

Never once thinking that Lina would be faced with a second suicide in the family, she bit hard on the cigarette end.

  
Why would Lina's father fly a plane he knew would cause his death?

The idea was absurd and made no logical sense.

Standing with some show of lethargy, Haines paced over to the windows, dropping the blinds and the room into warm darkness.

Following Haines gait, Lina turned in great curiosity when he knelt thumping a wooden slat with a fist, popping it upwards.

"Should John have flown with you, he would have gunned you down," Haines stated bitterly, reaching into the hollow space below the wooden board "I didn't know that Victoria told Vilem to kill himself should that plan fail," sombre, and showing deep regret Haines pulled out a small tin box.

The lamp's light showed that the box was an old soap one, rusted at the edges.

Keeping it in hand, Haines stood again, using a boot to slot the wooden board back into place.

"Your Aunt orchestrated the deaths of your father, Vilem and-," Haines held out the small tin box, a sad smile sweeping his mouth "-,She wanted you dead too,"

Stunned, though in light of recent events Lina should not have been, she took the box out of Haines's hand - it was heavy.

"I spoke to Betsworth, asked him to force you to take leave until we could ascertain better who was your enemies," Haines stood before Lina, peering down at her warmly, fondly even.

"John was the only one who bore the tattoo in your Squadron, the Bluebird, which-," Haines drew in a long breath on the cigarette "-Victoria chose the name for them, and their mark, because of the nickname Vilem gave you,"

To hear that Victoria took something of Lina's childhood, a name with fond memories and sentimental value, to label the men who murdered her father, brother, and wanted her dead too, was a bullet to the chest that could never heal.

"Why?" It came out in a whisper, the confidence in Lina's voice lost within the anguish of what she was learning.

"Why?" Haines laughed, it was bitter and resentful "Because you were all in her way," he answered, leaning on the desk with both arms folded "She has been promised untold riches and glory, a proper palace should she feed the Germans every little piece of information she can," he shook his head "Your father and Vilem tried to stop her getting that, and so they paid the ultimate price,"

Victoria's ambitions were bold, daring and deadly.

The mere concept that Victoria's ambitions were solely for power, money, and status fit her personality and suited her well.

"She's kept me alive, let me take my title," Lina pointed out, showing some doubt and sticking a finger through the small holes in Haines story "She could have killed me already, but she hasn't."

Haines met Lina's gaze with deep curiosity, but equally with pity.

"You have no idea how many people have put themselves in bullet paths for you, do you?" Haines asked it was not belittling or even accusing Lina of being ungrateful, but worrisome of how much she had acted blindly too.

"Paul, Elijah, Constable Peters, Betsworth, Danny, even the MP's I sent to check on you in Dover, have all been there, working in your shadow to keep you alive," Haines listed off their names "Myself included, have done our utmost to ensure you have not met with your end just yet,"

How could Lina have been functioning for so long in a bubble and not seen all that was going on?

Was Elijah's purpose that day they met to ensure - as he said before - her safety?

"You were drinking heavily all those months, wrapped up in your head for weeks, and it was those times that we put in so much time and effort to keep you alive while you were barely coping," Haines kept his tone soft, to refrain from berating her behaviours "We will continue to do so, but we need your head back here, and sharp as it always has been,"

Carefully taking Lina's face in both hands, Haines held it tightly, leaving a soft kiss on her forehead.

"You need to stay focused, not just for yourself, but your son too," Haines whispered, letting Lina go.

Lina couldn't speak, the remorse and guilt of the utter disappointment within herself for slipping so low and having all these people look after her without even knowing it left her ashamed.

Knowing well enough that Lina had spent far too much time on the drink, sometimes even to the extent she could not remember days at a time, it was why she didn't touch it anymore.

Yet, Lina never knew what was going on while she was in such states.

Finally finding the courage to look up, Lina met Haines eyes with a small, assured smile.

"Thank you," Lina whispered "Abbot."


	58. In The Airfields

All excitement went from the airbase, and an eerily quiet was left behind.

The arrest of Fourteen Squadron left half the base empty, and all noticed it.

Leaving Haines office with the small tin soap box Lina came across no one on the walk over to the fields, and for that Lina was content.

Stretched out on the grass, one arm tucked under his head while the other held Elias to his chest, Marcus was watching the night sky.

Feeling almost like Lina’s presence was an intrusion to the moment Marcus and Elias we’re sharing, she hung back a little, listening.

Marcus talked to Elias softly, and by the short and soft gurgling, it sounded like Elias was talking back.

Listening to Marcus as he explained how he and Lina met Elias, there came a second where she needed to keep from laughing when Marcus said: “Then she broke my fingers.”

Elias lifted his head like he was shocked, and Marcus nodded solemnly “Only three, but it hurt a lot more than I let on,”

Recalling the moment Marcus spoke of, Lina’s smile became a little coy - that was the very day that started their relationship.

The soapbox in hand felt heavy, weighted by many things that shuffled around when Lina shook it, the desire to open it was there, but she was scared to find out what was inside.

Not wanting to be alone when Lina found the courage to prise open the lid, there was hope that Marcus would sit with her while she did.

“I hope you don’t mind that I went to get Elias?” Head turned a little, Marcus showed a short second of reconsideration for bringing Elias to the airfield.

Sinking to sit beside Marcus, a warm smile was turned on Elias when he took notice of Lina and became excited.

There was no problem or issue that Marcus wanted to spend time with Elias, not when he missed three months of Elias’s life already.

“It’s ok,” Lina stroked a hand through Marcus’s hair, inspecting the small cut on his lip with the other “I want you to spend time together,”

There was no telling what the future held, so they had to make the most of what they had.

Laying down on her front, the soapbox was set aside for a later time.

Wanting to share in the moment they were able to be together as a family, Lina wanted to embrace it wholly.

Head rested on the small space on Marcus’s chest that Elias had not taken up, a single finger traced the line of Marcus’s jaw.

There was still much they needed to speak about, both from the time of Marcus’s absence and what was learned while talking to Haines - it could wait until morning.

“I wish I could have been there,” Marcus stayed looking up at the stars “Even just to put a stop to him being claimed as another man’s son and not mine,”

When Elias was born, it was never a decision left open for discussion; Victoria acted without Lina’s knowledge to declare Elias, the son of Knud.

Before Lina was even an hour out of the labour, Victoria signed the birth certificate and officiated Elias, then told Lina never to speak otherwise.

“I would never have allowed it if I had known,” resting upon one arm Lina’s face hovered over Marcus’s “You know that, don’t you?”

Worried that Marcus believed Lina supported Victoria in the choice, her brow pinched into a frown when he said nothing.

Carefully, very carefully, Marcus lifted his head, bringing the arm out from beneath to let the hand catch the back of Lina’s head and bring her close.

“You don’t have to explain that to me, I know,” Marcus assured, pressing their foreheads together and holding her gaze firmly, almost determined to make it known that he didn’t believe for a second that Lina allowed it.

Gingerly, Lina attempted a kiss, sitting up a little more when Marcus relaxed back to allow it.

Ten long months sped by since Lina last kissed Marcus, and she missed it. The small flutter it made in her chest when their mouths met, the comfort it gave her to connect with Marcus in an emotive but straightforward way.

Taking great care with how they moved not to disturb Elias or upset him from where he lay on Marcus’s chest, Lina settled down, laying in the groove of Marcus’s body.

Smiling when Elias cooed and made noise to grab Lina’s attention, she lightly stroked the tip of his nose - already it was clear that he would have Marcus’s.

“I told you once,” Marcus peered down to look at Elias, the hand nestled on his back, patting it gently when Elias yawned and laid down. “But the timing was all wrong,” he turned a little, lips brushing Lina’s forehead “I never imagined I would have this chance, but now that I do I would not change a thing,” creating a pause by kissing Lina’s forehead, it was followed by three softly spoken words.

Tilting a little to see Marcus better, fingers caressing his lips Lina realised that she had never said it back, or even tried to at any point.

In three days, they would take off from the white cliffs and fly over the channel together, not as enemies, but as partners could well end up being the last time, they would see each other.

Lina wanted no regrets when that time came, and so, she let go of the final piece of herself that she had yet to give Marcus.

“I love you, Marcus Buckler,” it came out in a small, tentative whisper.

For a second, barely even a second, Marcus’s eyes widened a little before becoming softer, warmer in their hue.

Never saying it to any man who was not family, Lina’s heart stuttered when it came out her mouth.

Spending so many years as nothing more than an object, something desired but never wanted it made Lina hard and cynical over the concept of love.

It was fickle, fragile and taken away with too much ease - and so Lina convinced herself that she never needed it.

Marcus was different, he saw behind the wall Lina built, dared to take it apart brick by brick until there was nothing but who she truly was left to see.

Being vulnerable was not something Lina liked to be, but with Marcus, she let it happen.

Marcus wanted nothing but Lina’s time, and she would willingly leave herself with none if it meant all of it was spent on him.

“My pocket,” Marcus spoke up, head nodding to the other side of himself “Look in it,”

Dubious, Lina sat up a little, keeping her eyes on Marcus while leaning over, careful not to disturb Elias, there was nothing but softness in Marcus’s face, and a small smile.

Forced to turn away to search Marcus’s trouser pocket, Lina stopped when her fingers closed around a small velvet box.

Heart thumping hard, Lina drew it out, refusing to open the hand and look at what it was, even though she knew that she knew what it was.

“Meine Frau,” Marcus uttered it gently “Has a nice ring to it, and I wouldn’t mind being able to say it, and for it to be true this time,”

Scared and excited, Lina looked back at Marcus when his hand gently peeled back the fingers Lina clasped over the small box.

“Lina,” Marcus spoke her name in such a way that it set her heart into a gallop “Willst du mich heiraten?”

Crouching down and catching Marcus’s mouth, Lina couldn’t stop the tearful laughing that interrupted her effort to kiss him.

“Ich werde” came out in a short, tearful giggle.

Finding one another’s eyes, they held each other’s gaze for what felt like an eternity, before their lips met with a little more success.

Confident that if Elias was not asleep on Marcus’s chest that Lina would have been wrapped up in Marcus’s embrace, she settled happily for that moment being restricted to just a kiss.


	59. Flakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lindsey Stirling's song - Underground was what I was listening to while writing a specific part to this.
> 
> I will put a little * where it was.
> 
> I don’t believe in those stories where they put “listen to this for the most effect yadda yadda” as everyone has different reading speeds and will feel different about the music and what it invokes etc.
> 
> However, I do like to share what songs helped me write a piece at times, and this song was just for me perfect timing to come on while writing for that part.
> 
> Also, Lindsey Stirling is amazing & I love her!

The rolling drone of the hammer on the bell cried out across the airfields. Accompanied by thumping boots and chorused by the shouts of affirmation for those charging their seats in the cockpits.

3:50 am - A night flight.

Paul was on the landing strip "They're coming over Broadstairs!"

A change of tactics?

Broadstairs was one of the three coastal towns, furthest from France, meaning they had come across in the broader arc than usual.

Scrambling up into the cockpit Lina was the first to announce that she was ready for flight.

Steering to take to the runway Lina listened to the confirmations of who was coming with her.

There were fourteen of them ready to go.

"I want four lots of three," Lina spoke into the radio "One of two,"

There was no need to assign them; they would split down into the teams that would serve them the best without needing her to order it.

Lina felt the backwards tug as the Spitfire lifted off.

Travelling in an ascending arc for sometime Lina could level out and glide it towards Broadstairs, fingers flexing on the steering the tap of the new ring placed on her finger was only a few hours old.

Trying not to overthink about it, Lina channelled all her focus on to the task ahead, listening to the radio feed as each man confirmed they were off the ground.

"Time for a sunny trip to Broadstairs boys and girls," Winters crackled in the feed "Everyone brought their buckets and spades?"

There was soft shushes and crackles of the radios as they came together discussing beach stories of their childhood.

"I hate sand. Always got in my sandwiches," Jock announced to their surprise "Jam and sand is not a good' mix!"

"You're supposed to play in the sand Jock, not eat it!" Peter snidely entered the conversation, never missing a chance to take a shot at Jock.

"Listen, sand is the devil's creation; it gets in the tiniest of spaces whether you want it to or not!" Barnaby cut in, coming to Jock's defence.

There was silence for a long time until Freddie came in with: "I just like the ice cream."

Sliding into another wide arc to adjust and come on to course for Broadstairs, Lina's ears were filled with laughter and jokes and hopes about being able to land and get ice cream.

There were three noticeable absences to the conversations.

With no choice but to scramble out as those who were awake and ready to go, it meant that Eric, Elijah and Marcus were on their first flight with them.

"You're quiet." Andy was to Lina's left, and from a glance and in the glow of his control panel Lina could tell he was looking at her through the glass.

Returning to looking ahead, watching the skies, the clouds and the shadows formed in them, Lina laughed.

"None of you even mentioned having a flake," Lina came in, shaking off the idea that she was quiet "It made me realise you're all a bunch of heathens,"

At once, they kicked up.

"You probably even put the milk in first for your tea, don't you?" Lina muttered, sarcastically disproving.

"I take my tea without milk," Eric stated, blunt and matter of fact like.

"Heathen!" The rest of the eleven shouted in unison.

"I would walk to a field and milk the cow myself if it meant I wouldn't have to drink my tea without milk!" Before turning again, Tinker declared flying to join the two he would be with while the men concurred with shouts of: "Here, Here!"

They fell into radio silence while manoeuvring, separating into their teams and spreading into a wider formation.

Being grouped too closely was risky.

If one was shot down, it ran the risk of bringing others with them.

*The shudder of falling bombs and wail of the air raid sirens were getting louder.

"Right lads," Lina spoke "Remember this is a heavy civilian area," this was no joking matter "Push them back. Not down."

Knowing already that Lina had Jock and Peter, a pull on the steering took her upwards.

"Aye aye!" Barnaby shouted.

"Time to Charleston with Fritz!" Andy chuckled.

Winters was the last to confer "The best have brought their bathing suits!"

Cutting upwards Lina watched Jock and Peter coming up with her, before breaking off left and right.

These were not just Bf-109's but bomber planes, and the goal was not to send them down into the town of Broadstairs but force them back and into a retreat.

Once over the beach and sea, it was a different matter.

With a silent prayer that all fourteen of them would make it back, Lina spun away from the bullets hailing, careful to keep control of her glide.

It was cloudy that night, which was both a favour and misfortune.

Wondering for a short second how Marcus and Eric felt about flying against their own, Lina dived when the BF-109 she had flown straight toward, buckled and tipped upwards to avoid a direct collision with her.

At its underbelly Lina knew better than to become dogged on one plane, to pursue it relentlessly in these conditions, and it was not him that she was worried about, but the bomber.

Cutting downward, Lina unloaded on its wing, clipping it enough that it forced the bomber to swerve and try and take up a new position.

Below the town was aglow, the city crying and shouting.

This was why Lina was there to stop this.

Forced into a rolling Lina stayed on her side, the narrow passage between two enemy planes her only path to escape through.

Eyes narrowed Lina could see their hands aligning the shots.

Hell, be damned if Lina was going down here.

Opening fire directly on the one's engines to Lina's right, she grit her teeth, downing the planes was not the plan.

The German pulled away, forced to duck from the spray of bullets Lina unloaded toward his engine, and it was not a moment too soon.

Free to write herself, Lina dropped down, before levelling out.

Lina was low, almost too low to the roofs and chimneys.

Right under the bomber planes Lina needed to gain altitude, and fast.

Watching both skies while steering around the chimneys Lina waited for an opening.

Too dark to tell Lina could see that a plane was downed, crashing into what Lina hoped was the beach or sea.

There.

A break in the clouds let Lina find a spot to come back up, and she took it.

Overhead of the town again, Lina could see dog fights happening left and right.

The bomber planes forcibly left uncovered, the ones who were not engaged directly in the fighting were manoeuvring, cutting in close and forcing the bombers to change course.

Now more than ever, it was their finesse that mattered and not their fighting.

Jock and Peter came up alongside Lina quick nods to the left and right to say that she had seen them, they dived in unison.

There was one bomber plane left uncovered by their enemy and them.

It was risky, dive-bombing it from left, right and centre, but Lina had faith that the three of them would manage to force the bomber upwards.

Spacing was essential, timing crucial.

Approaching fast, Lina noticed the nose of the bomber plane lift; it would come up.

Scattering into glides, this was where knowing each other well was paramount.

Radio silence kept, Jock, Peter and Lina said nothing about the direction they would take - but Jock cut off to the left, while Peter and Lina went right.

Avoiding colliding with each other, and the bomber, Lina kept steady, following the ascending glide to join Peter while Jock came back to press the left side.

The bomber was turning, trying to pull away from them, but they kept on, cutting, rolling and gliding around it to force it to turn around, and it did.

Sticking on it, remaining to pin it and keep its course set for the beach Lina broke her radio silence.

"Let 'em have it." Lina made the order calmly, pulling back to allow Peter and Jock clear shots.

The tremble of the bullets ripping through the bomber planes metal, the scorch of its oil setting alight Lina, Jock and Peter did not celebrate the victory of their hard work, there were others still, and the battle was not won.

"I've had it, lads." Barnaby's cough was wet. "Have that ice cream for me, will ye'" he laughed, it was laboured and dripping as it fed into all their ears.

Blinking Lina scoped the skies, eyes fixed on the smoke billowing deep black from the engine, the tail end of the Spitfire alight.

"We will even have an extra flake," Winters answered, it came with a soft laugh, trying to remain jovial.

They knew.

Barnaby could not eject.

"We will send your love to Gloria," Andy chuckled lightly.

Barnaby laughed, but it became a hacking cough "Someone make sure my mother doesn't see what's in my locker," wheezing out the request, they could tell it came with a sordid smile.

"I will personally make sure!" Peter laughed; it was wet, but not from any form of injury.

"Would now be the wrong time to petition to change Elias's name to Barnaby?" Barnaby was speaking directly to Lina this time.

Swallowing, hard Lina laughed "Yes." She laughed, it was strained "But he has no middle name," she added, trying to eject volume in her breath so that he would hear.

"I would like that," Barnaby wheezed, descending into a spluttering cough "Tell my mum I'm sorry,"

"I will," Lina whispered, eyes becoming wet and blurred, she blinked fiercely when the radio fell silent.

Exhaling deeply Lina watched the Spitfire go down, the plumes of smoke burning darker when it hit the ground.

Teeth grit Lina swallowed hard, fiercely.

Becoming overwhelmed, angry, would be unwise and foolhardy.

"Keep at it," Lina spoke to the others "We are not done yet."

Ascending again, Lina didn't expect any of them to answer; she knew they needed this moment of silence, to focus.


	60. Barnaby Rogers

Cigarette between the lips Lina close to dropped it from laughing, Peter laying on her stomach his head bobbed a little more as he too was laughing.

"I ain't done yet!" Winters announced, standing in the centre of them under the light of the rising sun "I will say this now Barnaby Rogers, you come home and tell me you have knocked up some land army harlot, I will castrate you myself!" Reading out the letter, Winters was forced to wipe his eyes "Marriage! Your catholic schooling will not be wasted. I expect marriage!"

Dramatising the letter's contents as if they were listening to a sonnet, Winters doubled over, holding his knees as he wheezed from laughter.

Sitting around in a huddle, smoking, drinking and Tinker still eating the ice cream stolen out by Naafi, they all dropped off into silence.

It was quiet without Barnaby.

"Here," Peter plucked out a picture from the box they took out of Barnaby's locker. "This is Sarah...his fiancée," eyes soft as he looked at the picture, he passed it to Jock.

There was no vicious exchanging of words on their flight back that morning a short moment of truce between the two.

"She's a wee lass. Pretty too," Jock nodded approval, handing the picture over to Jackson who confirmed it.

"Did his mum not know that he was engaged?" Lina asked, shifting a little from where she rested her back on Eric.

Andy shook his head "Sarah is Jewish. His mum is a strict catholic," he answered sadly, shrugging before taking the picture "Poor girl,"

They fell quiet for a short time, no one knowing what to say.

"To Barnaby!" Winters raised his glass of their stolen whiskey.

Taking the glass, Peter handed over Lina and raised it with the others "Barnaby!"

Knocking it back, Lina was not the only one who's face scrunched up at the bitter taste.

"Oh, here we go," Andy scoffed "Toffs incoming."

One after the other they looked out across the fields, to where Haines and Paul were strolling towards them.

Stealing was strictly forbidden - besides illegal -, and they all had not only broken into the Naafi but stolen more than ice cream and whiskey.

"I will handle them," Lina grumbled, pushing Peter up from where he lay on her, Eric holding out a hand for Lina to use to stand.

Clapping the grass off her uniform, Lina stepped over the many bodies lounged almost in a heap together.

Elijah and Marcus for this moment were accepted and not shunned, as was Eric.

Slipping by Marcus, a single finger ran across his cheek as Lina stepped over Elijah's legs to meet with Haines and Paul.

"Morning," Lina greeted, slowing to a stroll "How are we this fine dawn?" Hands on her hips, a small smile came to her mouth when they slowed down, stopping a short distance from her.

"You're not in any trouble," Paul assured, stepping forward and passing Lina with a soft squeeze on a shoulder.

Haines shook the bottle he'd been hiding behind his back "Barnaby deserves better than stolen cheap whiskey,"

A little blindsided, Lina took the bottle when Haines passed it over "A twelve-year malt?" Reading the label, she sucked in a breath "This is..."

Trailing away when Lina turned the bottle around in the palm of her hand, a small smile came to her lips.

The short message on the back was in Lina's handwriting.

"I thought this one would be the most appropriate," Haines tapped the glass over Lina's small message stuck on the back "Only to be opened when I have finished acting an arsehole, as you politely put it," he chuckled softly.

For a second unsure what to say, Lina licked her lips "I gave you this after Florence found us together," remembering the precise moment Haines' wife walked in on them in his office, there was a small guilty smile.

Taking in a short breath, Haines scratched his brow "I haven't forgotten," he mentioned without any sign of remorse over what they once had.

Part of Lina knew that if it were not for witnessing how distraught, Florence was when finding Haines and Lina together, they would have carried on.

"Only taken you four years to quit being an arsehole," Lina tossed the bottle hand to hand "They should give you an extra stripe for that,"

Haines made a single, chest jutting laugh "I wouldn't want it," putting out an arm and turning Lina around, walking them both back to the group Haines soon cupped the back of Lina's head, pressing a kiss to her hair "This is a one-time exception to being the arsehole of Manston,"

Taking back the bottle, Haines tossed it to Winters "I don't want any of that left,"

Showing some reservation, Winters peered around Haines to Lina who nodded back that it was not a trap.

"Thank you, Sir," Winters waved the bottle above his head "Glasses our lads!" Cracking open the bottle, Winters walked around the circle of held up tumblers, pouring them each a drink.

The atmosphere that morning was bittersweet, all of them were trying to show strength in their solidarity, but it was behind their eyes, the smiles that didn't quite reach them that they were all aching deep from the loss of Barnaby.

Especially for Lina's troupe of crime.

Peter, Jock, Andy and Tinker were quieter, all of them looking like they had lost one half of themselves, and it was the same for Lina.

Peter, Jock, Andy, Barnaby and Lina all enrolled together and petitioned to be kept together.

Tinker was the young new blood they all adopted when he showed up a year later, all of them taking him under their wing.

Returning to the circle, taking the glass poured, Lina kicked Elijah's boot's sole, making him move his legs.

Sitting down beside Marcus, there was no reservation this time around with the interaction when Lina settled her head on his forearm.

"Elias Barnaby Buckler, sounds a good and strong name," Marcus spoke slowly and from behind his glass, staring ahead to where Winters was searching for another letter worthy of reading out "Don't you think?"

Smiling Lina nodded "It does," wanting to make real on the small and final promise made to Barnaby, it was relieving to know that Marcus was not objecting to it.

Bringing up her head Lina pecked the edge of Marcus's mouth, a hand around his back, she played with the ends of his hair.

"Thank you," whispering the small gratitude, Lina stopped the glass from reaching her mouth when a loud, screaming yell broke the friendly chatter of the group.

Startled, expecting it to be Winters discovery of something wickedly sordid, Lina was met with a wide-eyed Tinker crawling across the grass, and grabbing Lina's hand.

The left to be precise - Tinker waved it up in the air.

"Look!" Tinker cried out "Look at this!"

Singling out the ring Marcus placed on her finger hours before they were called out, Lina was hit with a harsh reality.

Lina never got to tell Barnaby.

Peter sprung up, accidentally kicking Winters in his excitement "It's happening!" He shouted, "Kiss your arses. Goodbye!" He stood up with a jump.

"The world is ending!" Andy declared, one arm strewn dramatically over his eyes.

Snatching back the hand Lina whipped it across Tinker's head when he added that Armageddon was upon them.

Catching Paul's eye for just a moment, Lina saw the disheartening silence that held his tongue, and for just a second she thought that at the very least that she could have spoken to him first before the others noticed.

"Five bob says she legs it before even getting in the dress," Jackson waved a pencil in the air, a pad of paper in hand.

"Alter," Haines pointed a finger away from his tumbler "I put ten on it."

Jackson licked the pencil nib "Haines says ten for later," he scratched it on the pad "Who has ten for the aisle?"

Peter and Andy raised their hands "Definitely aisle," they spoke in unison.

Listening to them all taking bets as to when Lina would flee her wedding day, a short and stressed smile sat on her mouth.

"We want front row by the way," Haines added "Need to have the best view of when you panic and leg it," there was a small, sincere smile on his mouth.

There was a deep misfortune that the men knew Lina well enough that they knew commitment sent her fleeing.

They understood that it was not a choice when marrying Knud, but a duty, so they never said anything about it.

"Hold on, hold on," Jock waved a hand, garnering their silence and attention "Who did it?" He asked, looking around the circle "What man had the balls to chain this lioness?"

Sipping silently on the whiskey Lina looked away when the Squadron looked between Elijah and Marcus.

Unable to express how cruel or even unfair it was to Elijah that the men were looking at him as the possible culprit, let alone Marcus and Paul too, Lina decided to cut it to an end.

"This one," Lina flicked a finger to Marcus.

There was a short silence, before Peter, Andy and Jock stood up, Tinker too.

"Right. Buckler," Jock moved alarmingly quickly, clapping both hands on Marcus's shoulders "We need to talk." He stated, just as Andy and Peter close to charged Marcus and hooked him under the arms.

The scene looked familiar when Tinker grabbed Marcus's legs and tucked them under his arms.

Except there was no Barnaby, and it made watching them start to march Marcus to the bog pit hurt.

A pain that was made no less sharp than when Elijah whispered: "Congratulations."


	61. Here We Are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amber Run - I found (acoustic) was the song I was on when writing this piece (the second half at least) Win-Win - feat Tove Lo - Yotto remix was for the first part

Snapping the latch down Lina listened to the clunk of its echo, waiting to see if it was noticed.

It wasn't.

Teeth hooking the bottom lip Lina lifted a boot, untying the lace before slipping it off and kicking it aside.

Stepping on the other's heel to remove it Lina popped open her shirt's buttons, tossing it aside with the brassiere before tackling the belt and trousers.

Walking forward, letting down her hair and shaking it out Lina crept up to the only occupied cubicle in the shower room, the soft billows of steaming water making the room foggy, a hand reached out.

Reacting only a fraction, Marcus stood still when Lina glided soft kisses over his shoulder, both arms enveloping around until the hands settled on the taut skin of his stomach.

There would be no better opportunity than now while they were on base.

Pressing flush to Marcus's back Lina trailed her fingertips downward, a small smile breaking her kissing lips to find Marcus was already standing up and waiting.

Marcus's body rolled into Lina's touch, one hand on the wall to support, the chest-deep moan sounded over the din of the showerhead that cascaded hot water down them both.

Moving around, the hand once laid on Marcus's stomach coming back and reaching for his face Lina stood on the tips of her toes to get Marcus's waiting lips.

Slow, caressing and in no desire to make this a hurried affair, Lina shivered when Marcus's fingers brushed over the curves of her body before taking a firm grip on her hips, forcing her closer.

Bodies close enough that the back of Lina's curled fingers skimmed her stomach while it gently stroked Marcus, the eagerness of his body and its want for more was palpable.

Mouths breaking apart, Lina met Marcus's hooded gaze, they were ignited, wanton and greedy with it.

Cupping a hand beneath Marcus's chin Lina pushed it up, exposing his neck to her lips, kissing soft trails down to his chest, she lingered a moment.

The twisted and knotted skin of Marcus's scar was in the slow process of becoming white with the passing time since it was made.

Careful, Lina ghosted a small kiss over it, the pounding of Marcus's heart pulsing against her mouth.

Carrying on down, Lina lowered her body inch by inch, her hand no longer on Marcus but joining the other to hold the narrowed point of his waist, the thumbs spreading across the muscles that slipped downward in a V shape.

Marcus's knees buckled a little when Lina kissed his tip, before parting her lips and gliding them over him.

Placing a hand to Lina's where they held Marcus's waist, their fingers knotted together for a few short seconds before Marcus made a single tug.

Withdrawing when Marcus made the signal that he wanted her too, Lina barely came up before Marcus was on her mouth, his hands grappling with bringing her feet off the shower floor and curling her legs around him.

Holding Marcus's face between both hands, Lina curled forward when he entered, both arms wrapping tight to his shoulders, the spray of the water almost faded away.

Paying no mind to the water, or the rattling of the cubicle wall, Lina focused solely on Marcus.

Less than a week since Marcus came back had gone by, and Lina's body achingly remembered how it felt to be with him like this.

Though Lina had not gone without bodily satisfaction, it was never the same as with Marcus.

The building heat was more like a scorch in her abdomen, and for the first time in a long, while Lina didn't quieten herself, she couldn't.

"Marcus," panting out his name into his mouth, Lina's fingers clawed to his brawny shoulders "Schwerer!"

Close, practically on the brink of her finish, Lina could feel that Marcus was too.

Forced to throw out a hand to grip the cubicle wall, Lina's back was thumped harder to the tile walls when Marcus met with her demand, it almost took the breath out of her with each hit.

Mouths meeting fiercely when the scorch became a full, unhindered blaze, Lina brought back her hands, clawing almost at Marcus's face.

Slowing, but not entirely done, Marcus stretched an arm up Lina's back, pulling her from the wall to collapse on him.

With one arm around Marcus's shoulders, Lina stroked back his hair as they shared short and breathless kisses.

Lowered to stand, Lina, kept a hold on Marcus's forearm when her knees wobbled a little, back slumping to the tiles, a slow smile started when Marcus pushed back her hair behind an ear.

Breathless, both of them, they continued to share short and fleeting kisses as they regained control of their breath.

"I missed you," Lina whispered, laying both hands on Marcus's chest, her fingers touched the scarred skin.

Fingers still in Lina's hair, Marcus's smile was faint "I wanted to come back sooner," he admitted "Once I knew you were alive, I wanted to get back to your side,"

Smiling, Lina placed a kiss on Marcus's palm where it held her face.

Should Lina have known or held an inkling that Marcus was alive, she was sure that she would have found him.

"I never thought that the day where I lost so much would ever have given me so much in return," Lina fell away to a whisper, touching her fingertips to Marcus's when he lifted the hand.

That day when Lina lost her father and Vilem was the very same day that she achieved to bring an enemy pilot inland.

Made to believe that the pilot was deceased, Lina never once thought that he was stowing away in her home.

"You said that fortune works in strange ways," Lina remembered their talk at her kitchen table, the very one after breaking Marcus's fingers and just before they slept together for the first time "I didn't think you were right back then, but now I know you were right all along,"

What could have been the chances that Marcus would find Lina's old abandoned home a day before she came home?

Never one for believing in fate, Lina was no longer so sure of it.

Fate was determined to set their paths on a collision course for one another, and they had crashed together.

At one point standing at a crossroad of choices, they were now standing at the same road, together.

"You asked me that same night what I wanted out of this," Marcus took hold of Lina's chin, angling her face to meet with him "I didn't answer at the time because I didn't know," he added after a short kiss "But I can answer that question now,"

Mouth twitching with a smile, Lina held Marcus's gaze, it was warm and open, with no secrets behind that were yet to be discovered, unlike the day they first came face to face.

"You, and our son, and every single second I have to share with you both is what I want," Marcus whispered, landing a short kiss on Lina's forehead "You're all that I need."

Throat in a soft swell Lina reached out both arms, wrapping them around Marcus and drawing him in close.

"You're all I want," Lina spoke against Marcus's chest "You, and Elias are all that I want and need,"

Once a woman of fickle mind and attention, Lina was confident of herself when she told Marcus that he was the only one that she wanted.

Lina held many ghosts of past lovers, but Marcus was one she refused to let go and let their flame die.

“Ich liebe dich und nur dich.”


	62. Bitte

2 am was an ungodly hour to be woken.

Roused by the soft tapping on a shoulder Lina spent some time blinking and clearing away the slip before noticing who was crouched beside the bunk bed.

"My office," Haines whispered and said nothing else before sneaking away, stirring nothing more than a snore from the men still deep in their slumber.

Bleary-eyed and no time spared to make a tea let alone set a brush through her hair, Lina combed it with her fingers while Haines closed the door behind Marcus.

Man be damned, Marcus looked as though he had not just been woken.

"How is your French?" Haines asked them both.

Marcus shook his head "I don't speak it."

Lina was half asleep, but being sarcastically sharp was something that never stopped "Je peux appeler ta mère une putain,"

Haines stopped arranging the papers on his desk "Je parle couramment le français, mon cher," there was not even a lisp of English in his enunciation, his eyes sharp in the low candlelight.

"je le sais," a tired smile accompanied the fact that Lina knew Haines would understand well enough what she said.

Mouth slightly patted while Haines bit the inside of his mouth, a deep sigh followed his tossing down the papers in his hand.

"If it were not so early and this important," Haines's fingers tented over the papers "I would have you running laps until dawn,"

Shrugging Lina took a step forward "Good thing this is important then," snatching the pages from under Haines's hand, she noticed that there were two separate pieces.

They were not simple pages, but identity cards, birth certificates, bank accounts.

"As I was unsure of your language abilities, Buckler, yours are in German," Haines shook a cigarette out the packet on the desk, flicking it over for them both. "Conveniently, there was a known Marcus Buckler, who is Luftwaffe too," eyes sliding to Marcus as it was spoken, Haines did not make it obvious.

There was suspicion in Haines mind, but he left it unspoken.

"Marcus is a German name," Marcus took his papers from Lina "It would come as no surprise if you found a fair few,"

Haines took the cigarette from his mouth, letting it hang at his side "You're quite right in that regard," a short nod came with it, the two fingers holding the cigarette jabbing the desk, or rather a map that was previously hidden beneath the papers.

"When were your last state visit and tour?" Turning to Lina this time, Haines held Lina in an intensely scrutinised stare "You have to be as accurate as possible here,"

Thinking how long it was since Lina did a state visit and tour, she hummed quietly "It was almost eleven years ago," she answered, her last official visit to Germany, Denmark, France and Greece was in 1925.

Only a child at the time, Lina was only there to show Battenberg's house's healthy familial state.

"You were a child then. Good." Haines beckoned them closer looking at the map "Then this change in plans shall work," singling out Toulon with a sharp circle of a pen Haines drew in a quick breath before tapping the pen over Paris "You're going to be going separate ways,"

This was not mentioned before, and when Haines said that there was a change of plans, she did not expect it to be that.

"Separate?" Marcus queried, holding the desk edge "For what purpose?"

Haines and Marcus locked eyes, each man held their own intense stares, and it was like viewing two wolves staring one another down.

"Our man has needed to move, and we need someone to secure your escape and not draw attention," Haines stated confidently "You're both going to be coming in from nowhere, and that alone will raise suspicion," he didn't even blink while speaking "If you start travelling together it will only put you both at risk,"

Should Lina only confirm Haines suspicion of Marcus, there would be no issue for them to travel together and complete their mission as a unit.

"So I will be going to Paris then?" Lina cut in, sweeping away Haines hand from the map "Whereabouts?" Sticking the cigarette in the corner of her mouth, she smiled when Haines broke his staring contest with Marcus and said: "Moulin Rouge," dropping the pen as he did.

Moulin Rouge was a famous establishment, even in England among the gentry.

"Interesting place for our man to hide," Lina smiled, deciding this time to check her papers better "I see," folding the pieces away when Marcus tried to look at them, a brief look was shared with Haines.

Lina was placed down as an exotic dancer "The new Mata Hari, hm?" Fanning herself with the pages, it came with a short smile.

"Just don't end up as she did," Haines returned sharply, trying to hide the worry in his tone.

Ending up in front of a firing squad with the accusation of feeding information to the enemy was not how Lina wanted to end her life.

Not that Lina could ever be enticed by money, not when she had it aplenty.

"I won't." Lina took time and care with neatly folding the papers.

Marcus showed no discontent visually by what was being proposed, though he held questions.

"This will take us away for a while, I presume?" Marcus wanted more details, to know the inner workings that Haines worked out for them.

"It will," Haines finally looked away from Lina "I hope a few weeks at most, but it could take longer," there was some matter of dismay about it "Providing that you both play your hands smart and don't draw attention, then it should go off without a hitch,"

Being away for a few weeks?

That would be taking both Elias's mother and father into enemy territory, with no promise of return.

The idea unsettled Lina a little that either or neither could return.

"I understand your concern," Haines spoke softly "Florence has agreed to take Elias while you're gone,"

Learning that Florence, Abbot's wife, who was well aware of the three-year-long affair between Lina and Abbot, was happy to look after Elias, came as a shock.

"That is kind of her. If not a little, odd," Lina spoke carefully, not sure what to make of Florence's offer to look after her husband's one-time mistress's child.

Did Florence think Elias could be Haines?

Haines shrugged off the oddity "Lydia will be there too,"

Close to forgetting that Lydia was Haines, daughter, Lina felt a little more at peace with the idea than when it was first suggested.

Lydia was a kind and sweet girl, brilliant with Elias and knowing that he would be with someone who Elias was comfortable with was for the best.

"Ok then," Lina agreed with a short nod.

Marcus somehow ended up being an outsider of the talks, watching on some vague, insightful interest.

Catching the look on Marcus's face, a small shake of the head was returned.

"That matter aside, we need to discuss how you're going to fly over there," Haines carried on, stubbing out the cigarette "We have a uniform of the Luftwaffe that will fit you, Buckler," leaving the ashtray alone, Haines set the hand in a pocket "For the sake of not raising too many eyebrows," for some reason he smiled when looking at Marcus as he said it "You will be lead pilot,"

Marcus held his chin, tapping a finger on it "It would cause less of a stir if I did," lowering the hand Marcus looked at Lina "Will you be comfortable with that?"

Lina was confident in Marcus's flight not to land them in the channel with a nosedive.

"I will be fine," Lina nodded assuringly.

Haines shook his head "She is a terrible back seat driver," he countered swiftly "Prepare for hell." He added "My advice? Cut the radio."

Aghast at the idea that Lina was a back seat driver, she shot a glare at Haines "I am not." It came in a snap "I just object when I have a blind paraplegic at the helm, who insists on testing a crash landing in a field of sheep!"

Haines jaw firmed "I am not a blind paraplegic."

Lina snorted "You were flying like one," a finger shot to the bands on Haines's forearm, indicating his ranking "They only gave you them to get you behind a desk and out the sky,"

Haines looked up, like he was thinking for a second about what to say, but thought better of it.

Some years before, the incident happened, and truth be told - part of what was forgotten by Lina until then - it was her fault for distracting Haines mid-flight.

"I think we best leave that as it is," Haines muttered, turning away.

Eyebrows raised, Lina could not have agreed more, but she didn't say so.

"For now I want to keep as many of the crucial details to a minimum," Haines stated "You will be leaving at midnight, from an agreed point on the cliffs," he sat down "As I said before your take-off will be clear, no anti-aircraft gunners, no ships, but once you're clear, you're on your own,"

Sitting on the edge of the desk, Lina knew already that they would face the risk of encountering ships and planes of their own side once they had taken off.

It would be arduous, but they would have to fly without engaging them at all, at least until they were in the safe zone of occupied France.

"I will tell you on the night who it is you're to meet," Haines tented his fingers "Not a second before,"

Told already that this man held invaluable information, Lina could only guess at what it could be that they would need not only to go undercover - Lina at least - but that they would be almost entirely alone.

Knowing that keeping the people who knew to the utmost minimum lessened the chance of their being betrayed made it equally as challenging to progress, as there would be no telling who was friend or foe.

"You will need to be in Dover before midnight, so I have arranged accommodations for you to stay the night before," Haines added, taking an envelope from a drawer "Everything will be provided until the moment you leave, and to get you started while there," this time he spoke with a small sigh "After that, I can only wish you luck,"

Pensive, Lina met with Marcus's eyes; they were calm and collected, confident of their success.

"You both are on leave until then," Haines stated, sitting forward "Make use of this time wisely,"

Surprised to learn that they would be permitted to leave the base until they would need to travel down to Dover, Lina cast a dubious look at Haines.

"Winters will temporarily be taking your role," Haines spoke from behind his hands "Now, get going,"

Dismissing them both, Haines stopped Marcus before he even made a step to the door "I need to have a word with you," tone sharp, the intense gaze was fixed on Marcus again "Alone."

Flicking two fingers to hurry Lina out of the office, Marcus smiled softly when she became reserved to the idea of leaving the two men alone.

Reluctant, but with no other choice, Lina left the office after stealing a small kiss from Marcus.

Out in the hall, Lina knew better than trying to eavesdrop; the chance to ask Marcus would come later.

There were not many people around in the early hours of Friday morning, but one figure could not be mistaken for standing and smoking outside the main building.

Eyes skyward, the soft orange glow of the roll-up lit up Elijah's face a little.

"I didn't think you were on the flight team tonight?" Approaching quietly, Lina didn't stand next to Elijah but kept a safe distance.

Since their talk back in the briefing room, they had not shared a word, but Lina owed him at least a few.

"I'm sorry," Lina let go of her pride to allow the apology to come with full sincerity. "Haines gave me a little-," not sure how to word it appropriately; a hand flicked about unsurely "-,Insight to why you were hanging around," losing volume it turned into a whisper.

Still facing the starry night, Elijah moved only to take the roll-up from his lips, finger and thumb taking a string of loose tobacco off his tongue.

"You don't need to apologise. I was only doing my job." Elijah spoke bluntly, showing unwillingness to engage Lina beyond what he said.

Deflated a little by the brush off, Lina stood there for a while longer, watching Elijah's deep-rooted efforts to ignore her presence and want to talk.

This could be their last, and Lina wanted no bad blood between them should it be.

"Elijah," speaking his name it came out strangely tender "I know this will probably just sound cruel and like I'm driving a knife in, but I meant it," she stepped closer "If you only had been more honest, there could have been something more for us," possibly it was a wicked thing to say. Still, Lina needed Elijah to know one thing for sure "I understand why you couldn't say anything now, but I needed surety then."

Lina wouldn't deny that Elijah held a flame in her heart, but his actions and behaviours made it difficult to keep it aflame.

It didn't change though, that with Haines insight, that Lina appreciated Elijah for being there in a time where she couldn't stand being alone, not truly.

"You sound like you're regretting your choice," Elijah finally spoke, throwing away the roll-up "That you're not so sure becoming his fiancée is what you actually want," with a slow turn, Elijah faced Lina.

Elijah's deduction was wrong, and there was not a tidbit of doubt within Lina that he was wrong.

"I have made many decisions that I regret," Lina ran a thumb over the engagement ring.

"Wanting to be with him is not and never will be one," confidence returned as she said it, there was a small whip of wind that shattered her hair across Lina's face.

Fighting with her hair to push it back, Lina froze on finding Elijah close, and his mouth brushed against her ear "Tell me that after you look in the box, Haines gave you," it came out harshly before Elijah walked off.

Left in a state of unease, Lina could only watch Elijah fade in with the darkness.

Was there something in the soapbox that would change Lina's thoughts on Marcus?

It could well be a ploy by Elijah to rattle Lina.

"What did he say?"

Leaping - almost - when Marcus spoke from Lina's back, a hand clutched her chest as it thumped like a rabbit's feet.

Placing a hand on Lina's arm, Marcus used it to help steady her feet.

For a short time only staring at Marcus, a breath settled her enough to speak "Haines gave me a box yesterday, which I am yet to open," there would be no secrets this time between them, not from Lina at least "He said that once I opened it, it would make me rethink my wanting to be with you,"

There was no light to see with, so Lina relied on Marcus's posturing to ascertain how he took the news.

"He is speaking of the fact I was the one who handled the coordinates that led to Vilem being accused of what he has been," Marcus stated it so calmly, it came out with so much ease that it seemed almost like he was not ashamed to say it "Haines knows who I am. I only just found out that I have met the man we are being sent to collect,"

Left in a stupor, Lina's head became empty, except for a buzzing static.

"Lina, I swear I had no clue until now that I have played a part within this," Marcus no longer sounded so sure of himself "I was only following my orders,"

Trying to make sense of what Marcus said, Lina had to remind herself that they were enemies at the time of Marcus's actions.

Forgetting with too much ease that Marcus did not start this war standing with them, but against them, Lina knew that she would have to make peace with everything that came with that knowledge.

"Do you know why those coordinates were of great importance?" Lina hoped that Marcus held a greater insight into what was going on for them to be so significant.

"I don't," Marcus stated "I was only told to intercept them and return them,"

Once more hitting a dead end, Lina's chest sunk deeper than it had before when they came across another piece of information that took them no closer to the truth.

At the very least, Lina could trust that Marcus's ability to sleuth was not amateur.

"Is there anything else?" Lina dared to ask.

Should Marcus not have told Lina about the hand he held in the mystery of what Vilem was doing, there was no fathomable doubt that she would have reacted poorly.

Though in Marcus's defence, there was nothing for him to tell if he did not know.

"No," Marcus shook his head, stepping closer "Nothing." For some reason, it didn't sound true when it came from his mouth.

"Marcus." Speaking his name in a warning, Lina pinched Marcus's face between finger and thumb "Is there anything else?" Demanding rather than asking, Lina did not like the apparent hesitation from Marcus.

Marcus's forehead hit lightly on Lina's his eyes scrunched to a close like he was in some physical pain.

"When this is done," Marcus swallowed hard, trying to control the wobble in his voice "I can't come back."

Wanting Marcus to open his eyes, to search them and find something, anything that would let her believe it was a poorly thought out joke, Lina's breaths became short, her mouth fluttering but unable to speak.

"If I return with you, they will arrest me," the quiver in Marcus's voice was painful to listen to.

"There will be no trial, I will stand before a firing squad," Marcus took Lina's face within his hands "Haines tried to have them grant me a pardon, but it failed,"

Why did Haines not say anything sooner?

Angry, seething even because Haines never tried to mention it, Lina knew that she prioritised the burning anger, using it to mask the pain of knowing that she would have to leave Marcus behind.

If Elias was not a factor, Lina could have stayed.

Lina could not even try to pull favour and obtain Marcus at the very least, a prison sentence instead.

Elias only just got the chance to meet his father, Lina finally had Marcus back, they were engaged and now this?

It wasn't fair.

"I don't want to leave you behind," only as Lina said it did she realise that she was crying.

Marcus finally opened his eyes "You're going to have too."

Angry again at Marcus's supposed acceptance of it, Lina held the overwhelming urge to hit him, punch him, anything that would hurt him enough to let Marcus share in the agony she was in.

Somehow it looked as if Marcus knew what Lina wanted to do, as he seemed to brace for it.

So deeply conflicted, tumbling over and through a plethora of emotions, Lina let her anger win.

Cutting upwards into the punch, Lina knew that she hit Marcus harder than she had anyone else.

Close to screaming with the exploding, splintering pain in her hand, Lina only just heard the hard thump when Marcus hit the ground.

Brimming in an almost fury at Marcus, a kick lashed out at him.

It failed to land.

Forcefully taken down with a sharp tug, Lina hit the grass with a slap, and no sooner had it happened, was Marcus on top of her.

Disoriented not by the takedown, but the whirlwind of confusing emotions for the man laying on her, it took no time at all for Marcus to keep her pinned down.

"Lina!" Marcus's voice trickled into her ear, chest heaving from the strain of bringing her under control "I don't want this. I don't," soothingly he ran a hand over Lina's hair "But there is nothing I can do,"

Lina didn't want to hear it, even when it was true.

"Get off me!" Far from as forceful as Lina wanted it to be, it came out in a whimpering sob.

Marcus shook his head, holding Lina's in place "Not yet," he refused adamantly "I don't want this to be the last time you let me hold you,"

Strangely, Lina laughed, it sounded cold and callous as it came.

How could Marcus ask that of Lina?

There was no knowing how long the war would last, who would win, who would live.

Lina didn't want to cling to Marcus in a vain hope that they could be as they were before this one day.

"If I have to wait a year, five, even ten," Marcus sounded desperate but sure of what he was saying "I will wait for the moment I can be with you again." He moved, no longer laying on Lina but upon his knees and hovering over her "But I need to know that you will wait for that moment too?"

Lina knew that her heart would wait an eternity for Marcus if it had too.

Yet, the words to make that promise refused to come out, and her head shook.

Lina didn't want to return to loving a phantom in her life. To have Marcus's presence, a lingering shadow that would never take definite form.

“Bitte, Lina,” Marcus pleaded “Versprich mir, dass du mich niemals verlässt,”

Arms free, Lina's hands covered her face, the sobs wracking her chest were choking.

"Ich möchte so ein Versprechen nicht machen müssen. So nicht." The circumstances were not fair; they were not how Lina wanted to promise Marcus that she would never leave him.

Slowly Marcus shifted, dropping to sit on his legs, his arms tucked under Lina, forcing her up and to his chest.

Wrapping herself almost around Marcus and holding on as tightly as she could, Lina could no longer tell if the quivering was from her, or Marcus.

Whether or not Lina wanted it to be, there was always something desperate to tear them apart.

Lina lost Marcus once, and it was only because of Elias that she did not fall apart, Lina could not face that again.

Never wanting to wake up one day and have it told true that Marcus was gone and that time for good, Lina didn't want to set herself up for that moment.

“Ich werde dich immer lieben, aber dieses Versprechen kann ich nicht geben.” Clutching Marcus's face as it came out, Lina did not look at him as it came out, the limpness within Marcus as it was spoken agonising.

Withdrawing from Marcus, the attempt to bring her back was met with a firm push and shake of the head.

Staggering, weak as Lina stood upright, she held nothing more to say and so turned around, and left.


	63. Moulin Rouge

The Moulin Rouge - the first palace of women as it was nicknamed - was debauchery dressed up as cabaret.

Prostitution was rife among the women, be they dancers or not, the shows put on nothing but something to watch to distract their German patrons from the shameless sexual activities.

They did not hide what they were doing but instead performed their carnal dances to see, their stages the soldiers' laps or the tables.

Haines' choice to send Lina to Paris as an exotic dancer came as an unspoken promise to the German soldiers that she would do more than flash her undergarments while dancing the can-can.

Drinking made it easier to assimilate to the Moulin Rouge's life, chased by snorted lines of cocaine to make it all seem a little more euphoric.

Working the dance halls was vigorous, dazzling and sordid.

No sin could not be found within, and none that cost too much to buy.

Lina was only supposed to secure the informant, a man going only by the name Toulouse, an artist of some description.

When Lina arrived, there was no false hope that she would find him and be gone within a day, but she never expected to be still working within the dance hall approaching three months later.

Every word, each step Lina took needed to be done with care, she could not approach the topic directly for risk of exposure, so it left Lina in the misfortune of building up a rapport with the men.

A painstaking and slow process to do when there was a constant want for Lina's tongue, but not for conversation.

Corseted with ruffled skirts and heeled boots, Lina discovered the women never bothered with knickers, and only wore their stockings.

Something that took some getting used to at the start, Lina soon came to grips with why it was common practice.

There was too much hassle to be had trying to take them off rather than simply lifting the skirts and getting on with it.

In the lap of a rather largely built but seemingly harmless soldier, Lina found herself not minding his company whenever he came around.

Loud, obnoxious and full of far too much beer, the man was pleasant enough that he had yet to try and stick a hand up Lina's skirt or grab her breast.

"They told me this was a slither of heaven," swirling around the beer glass, face red at the cheeks, the gutsy grin never left his mouth "Here I am, sitting with an angel—?!" He hiccuped "Angel on my lap,"

Of all the things Lina was called thus far, an angel was the literal kindest.

Elbow propped on his thick shoulder, Lina played with the short tufts of his blond hair, smiling and fluttering her eyes, all the while pretending she did not understand a word he was saying.

Playing a little dumb when they spoke to Lina in German was what she used when wanting to ignore them, or gather any information that could prove useful.

Some, not all, could speak French.

A fact discovered when Lina called a fantastically drunk soldier a beer keg on legs, and he'd laughed so hard that he threw up.

Never before witnessing its likes, Lina chalked it up as another new experience the Moulin Rouge provided.

Occupied France was something to behold with both pity and awe.

Much was learnt while in close quarters with the German men that were not told in the papers. Nor passed down through the ranks.

There was known persecution of specific groups of people, but Lina never envisioned how poor their treatment was.

Jews, Gypsies, anyone who was not Caucasian, Homosexuals, the mentally infirm, the list stretched on and on.

It was alarming to witness their treatment and hear the whispered tales of places the people who fell into those categories ended up.

If Lina could not find their Toulouse, she could at least give better insight into what was going on.

"I could stay here forever," the man declared, swinging his head into Lina's chest and nuzzling his face between her breasts.

Many weeks before it would have startled Lina. But spending time in the dance hall, she became accustomed to the treatment and often rough handling.

So, when the soldier thrust his head into Lina's bosom, a leg kicked up with a flirtatious laugh while pressing his head deeper.

Lina was all coquettish and encouraging of their lust on the outside, but she despised every second inwardly.

It was why the drink and cocaine made it all the while easier to cope with it.

The soldier drew out his face, his laugh booming while he placed the glass to Lina's mouth and poured it for her.

Some she swallowed, most splashed down her chin and on her fuller chest.

The wet stroke of a tongue on the skin should have made Lina shudder, but it created delightful shivering - something the soldier noticed.

Sitting back a little, the hand placed in the curve of her back kept her upright.

Lina could only describe it as a state of being robbed of inhibitions, morals and loss of self-worth when their mouths came crashing together.

Sitting in a booth, Lina swung over a leg to straddle the soldier who she didn't even know the name of, kneeling on the seat while he undid his belt.

No one cared what happened within the Rouge, no one cast shame or aspersions on a person or shadowed their name, and with the clamour of music, chatter and lustful and intoxicated dances, very little could be heard.

Clinging to the soldier's heavyset shoulders when he took hold of Lina's waist; it was no meeting of passion, just pure unadulterated lusting.

Breathing becoming hot and heavy, Lina threw back her head, letting it be cradled in the soldier's hands as he sucked on the skin of her neck, fingers twisted in her hair each thrust was more demanding than the previous.

Eyes closed Lina's neck rolled when his hand came to sit on her cheek, his thumb entering her mouth she sucked on it when it pressed on her tongue.

Lina was flipped over in one fell swoop, laying in the booth with knees to her chest and his mouth hungrily upon hers.

Taking a fistful of his hair, Lina closed the other in an almost vicious twist in his shirt sleeve; her breath knocked out by the force of his thrusts.

It hurt a little, but not enough that Lina wanted for him to stop.

Rapidly he pulled out, bringing himself to sit on Lina's stomach, he spilt hot and sticky over the skin.

Disappointed by the absence of her own climax Lina said nothing of it when the soldier came back to her mouth, and the kiss became less fierce, and more like he was attempting an apology with it.

Finding the man's eyes, Lina met them in a state of confusion at his actions.

"I got a little too excited," he mumbled between each peck. "I don't usually finish that quickly," that part came out in a sheepish laugh.

Utterly amazed at the reasoning, Lina fought back a laugh, having to remain in the pretence that she did not understand a soft tilt of her head showed she had - apparently - no clue what he said.

Suddenly appearing bashful, the soldier looked away, twisting to lay on his side while a hand searched the tabletop, bringing a napkin off it.

No other soldier, or man, had ever put in so much time to any form of aftercare of Lina while inside the Moulin Rouge. It left Lina feeling as though she was having some out of body experience, that it was not her being subjected to such oddly chivalrous attention.

Pushing up on both elbows, Lina could only watch when the soldier drew back, kneeling on one leg at the end of the booth while doing his trousers back up.

Curious of the man a little more than Lina probably should have been, both brows crept up when he offered a hand to help her sit up.

Taking it, Lina was surprised by the gentleness of how he held it by comparison to how rough he was only seconds before.

Sat up again, Lina found herself in a state of intrigue over the man when he sat down beside her, one arm stretching across the back of the booth.

Drink back in hand the man didn't even take a breather as he finished it, but once he did, it seemed to have given him newfound courage or Dutch courage.

"I've never done this before," scratching the back of his head, the man swivelled his eyes around the hall before finding Lina's "The idea of paying you feels wrong-," he came over-stressed, eyes wide before mumbling under breath "-,Thank god you don't understand what I am saying."

The more that the soldier muttered that he disliked the concept of paying, that he didn't do it to pay for it, and how much should he even hand over, the harder it became to keep a straight face.

Needing something to put a stop to the man's incessant stressful rambling, Lina took his face in hand, turning it toward hers, and kissed him.

There was no forcefulness to it, but a simple, soft touch of their lips.

Slowly, Lina's eyes opened, and when they did, she had to look away to keep from laughing.

The man looked drunkenly besotted, and his sudden shyness in comparison to his boisterous self before was positively endearing.

Face hidden in a shoulder to hold off the laugh better, Lina bit on her lip to subdue it further.

Working as Lina was, was never about becoming enamoured with any of these men.

Not after arriving and Lina parted ways with Marcus on poor terms, and she swore herself off men did she envision becoming wrapped up in another.

Short, sometimes repetitive flings and one night stands were the only acceptance, to feel anything more than the rushing heat in her groin was forbidden to herself, by herself.

There was too much hassle with becoming attached to another man, and Lina was sure of only one thing.

Lina promised and would keep it, that she would always love Marcus and only Marcus.

It was just not supposed to be for them, and Lina had decided she was okay with that.

"Klemens," it came as a shout in Lina's ear, jarring and a little frightening "My name-," the soldier pointed to himself "-,Is Klemens,"

Taking a little time to shake off the fright that he had smiled at Lina soon creased her lips "Ismay," handing over the false name chosen for her by Haines, it was accompanied by a small smile.

"Ismay?" Klemens repeated, a little shocked that Lina understood what was going on "That's-"he soon became frustrated "-Can you even understand a thing I am saying?!"

Holding up a finger and thumb with a teeny gap between, Lina knew better than to give away that she knew everything he was saying "Un peu," she said with a small shrug, letting the hand fall to her lap.

Klemens's brow furrowed deeply "Okay, a little is better than nothing I guess," he said it with a laugh, a hand clapping his thigh.

No matter what it was, Klemens - as she now knew - always seemed to be in good spirits even without alcohol.

It was refreshing to be around someone so cheerful, and who stayed as such after a drink.

Many of the other soldiers became brutish and boorish once a certain level of intoxication was reached.

Bemused a little by Klemens, and by how deep in thought he looked to be Lina peered around the hall, the night was still young, and there was much yet to be done - Lina could spend it with Klemens for as long as he was there, as he well could be a foot in the door to making progress, or move on elsewhere.

"Right," Klemens thumped the table "Right I can do this," he mumbled to himself again, mouth switching side to side as he looked to be trying to find the right words "I can do French. I know this will be it,"

Fearful over what was about to come out of Klemens's mouth, Lina sat back a little when Klemens turned with great determination and confidence and said: "Combien pour te baiser?"

Lina couldn't believe what came out his mouth, not when he said it with such pure and honest intention.

Head in hand Lina started to cry as she laughed so fiercely that she nearly choked on it.

"Shit. Did I get it wrong?" Klemens asked, shaking Lina's shoulders and trying to bring her into a state of composure "What did I say?"

There was no way to explain it that would spare Klemens the embarrassment, so Lina waved her hand as if to brush it off.

"Hold on," Klemens held up a finger, before showing the whole hand "Wait here," carefully he edged himself out of the booth "Don't go, anywhere," he waved his arms, crossing them before pointing to the seat.

Nodding said that Lina would stay put, she dropped her chin into the palm of a hand, head shaking slowly as Klemens shouted into the crowd, asking who could act as a translator for him.

In deliberation of whether to stay where she was or leave, Lina lazily surveyed the hall.

There were excitement and thrill aplenty, but Lina wanted to be at home, to see Elias and hold him.

Never wanting Elias to grow up without at least Lina there was deep ridden regret for agreeing to come to France.

Turning to the table, Lina let her fingers circle the bottles' clutter, picking each one up and checking the labels.

Settling for some half-drunk wine, there was no decorum, and she swigged it straight from the bottle, taking as much as could be taken before needing to breathe.

Drawing out the cigarette case held by a garter to Lina's thigh, the lighter came out with it.

Tapping the cigarette's end on the case Lina bit the tip before tilting her head slightly and lighting it, inhaling deep.

Throwing down the lighter with the case on the table Lina lounged back in the booth, head back and staring up at the ceiling.

Becoming a prostitute was not something Lina ever imagined would be part of her life, selling sex for a few coins and never an orgasm; it was dismal and degrading.

Returning to drinking heavily, this time to blot out what she was doing rather than being incapable of handling her grief, Lina could not decide which was more pathetic.

Eyes closed, Lina took each burning to inhale deep and long, suffocating her lungs.

Table knocked, rattling the bottles Lina sprung forward in alarm, eyes scanning around for the source of the disturbance, she blinked at the giant of a man who was in a profuse sweat, head down.

Thinking the man drunk at first, Lina started to reconsider when Klemens came out from behind the man, clapping his shoulder.

"Milo, this is Ismay," he introduced the pair "I need you to help me here, just a little translating, please?"

Klemens and Milo were close to beet red when asked to translate, his body snapping taut with a fierce shake of the head.

"Nothing like that!" Klemens barked, thumping Milo's arm "I just wanted to know if she would be interested in meeting me somewhere that isn't here!"

Milo looked no more at ease when Klemens asked him to speak in place of him.

Klemens shook Milo by the shoulder "Do this for me please," he was begging "I swear I will learn the language if you do," he wore a broad smile that was almost as wide as his shoulders.

Carefully looking to the Milo while he fidgeted and seemed so uncomfortable that it was painful, Lina smiled warmly at him.

Being asked to go somewhere other than the Moulin Rouge would be a pleasant change of pace, even if it was dangling dangerously over to being seen as a date.

Tugging on the collar of his shirt, Milo stuttered, to begin with before finding his voice and asking: "Voulez-vous le rencontrer quelque part?"

Needing to act surprised, Lina hopped back a little in the seat, gliding a look to Klemens.

There was boyish hopelessness within Klemens, and it made Lina smile "Où et quand?"

Hurriedly, Klemens tapped Milo "What she say?"

Milo pushed Klemens's hands away "She asked where and when," he mumbled back, somehow coming across even shyer than when he spoke.

Klemens stopped, eyes open wide "Next week on Tuesday, at the cafe on the corner," he rushed to relay his message "Tell her!" He slapped Milo's arm when he was too slow.

Flinching away, Lina took some more of the cigarette to hide her smile.

“Êtes-vous libre mardi prochain de vous rencontrer au café?” Milo reiterated for Klemens, gulping nervously as he did.

Meeting at a cafe would be of no harm "Quelle heure?"

Milo continued to act as their in between until it was successfully arranged that Klemens would meet Lina at two in the afternoon on Tuesday.


	64. Hangover Dreams

The mornings were the worst.

Dry mouthed, headbanging, bleary-eyed and one wrong move from being sick, Lina laid in her self inflicted pity whilst watching the window pitter-patter with rain.

Wise it would be to start easing off the drink, but it would mean facing the Moulin Rouge sober and in sound mind - something Lina did not want to contemplate.

All Lina had to do was find the ever-elusive Toulouse then escort him back to England.

That element of the plan was something Lina was yet to put into any thought, but with the way her head was in that moment, she dared not to try and fathom anything beyond her own name.

Trying to turn and lay on her back, Lina stopped when an elbow clipped on something both firm and soft.

Head rolling ever so slowly to look, Lina's dry tongue became brittle between her teeth while the pounding in her head relocated to her chest.

Never, not even once, did Lina bring a man back to the rented apartment since coming to Paris, but now she was staring at the broad and naked back of one.

Carefully, and as delicately as Lina felt when waking that morning, she sat up and attempted to take a peek at the man sleeping in her bed.

Lina felt the nip of cold on her skin when the sheets fell away, and with it took her doubt over whether they had sex.

Bare as the day Lina was born, she placed her head in her hands.

How low could Lina fall before enough was enough?

Ill, and not due to the after-effects of drink, Lina stepped out the bed, searching the floor for any clothing that would cover up her skin before the man woke, Lina didn't even get a chance to see his face.

Once again waking with missing memories, Lina shot a look to the pillows where the man's head lay, checking his hair's colour.

It was blonde.

Heart plummeting to Lina's stomach, she took a half step forward but stopped.

The man stirred in his sleep, shuffling among the sheets, comfortable in his sleep.

Except it was not just a he, an unnamed man in Lina's bed.

Lina's heart sunk even further, sinking until she was sure it was at the very end of her body.

Marcus.

When and how did Lina meet with Marcus to the extent she let him come back to Lina's apartment?

Knees giving in Lina fell, dropping to the floor, barely catching herself as she did.

Was Marcus a client?

Did Lina charge Marcus or even put forward the suggestion that he needed too?

Sickness coming front and focal of Lina's attention, a scattering dash for the bathroom left her with her face down in the sink, clawing the ceramic edges.

Feeling no better when a hand combed up Lina's hair while another ran soft circles on her back, the sickness soon became a wracking sobbing.

This was not how Lina wanted to be seen, not by Marcus.

Turning the taps, Lina scooped water into both hands, splashing her face and washing away the shame she left in the sink.

Pushing back, knocking into Marcus a hand cupped over Lina's eyes, but she turned.

Turned around to enter Marcus's arms.

There could have been no worse a feeling than when Marcus showed no hesitation and took Lina in his arms, holding her tight.

Hands close to clawing at Marcus's back, Lina could not bring herself to look at him, not with knowing how the last three months had been spent.

If only Lina could have taken that hurdle, and sworn to Marcus, they would somehow make it work even if it meant waiting.

"Es tut mir leid!" It came out more like a bleat, desperate and pleading.

Still, Marcus did not say a word and only held Lina tighter when her legs gave, sinking with her to the cold bathroom floor.


	65. Stolen Pictures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was easier to leave a note rather than put it into the chapter, but Marcus and Reader are speaking in German for this chapter - though obviously it is written in English - as Marcus can’t speak French, and using English would put them both at risk.
> 
> The time would be November 1941 - I made mention to the month, but I thought I would add in the year too here.

Paris's 18th arrondissement, Butte-Montmartre sat on the right bank of the river seine, famous not only for the Moulin Rouge but for a few notable artists who lived on the hill and at its top sat the Basilica of the sacred heart of Paris.

Paris itself was a beautiful city, even with the German occupation of its lands and people.

The people carried on with their lives typically as they could. Some happier to see foreign men's uniforms on their streets, others were not so kindly inclined to them.

Leaving England in August the autumn arrived milder in Paris than they did back home.

It was how Lina could manage to dress in only a dress and light coat that afternoon, sitting in the corner of a small cafe to share coffee with a man who she never planned to see again.

Marcus looked okay, if not a little gaunt from their last face to face conversation when they arrived in Toulon.

Sitting side on in the chair, Lina watched the men and women taking afternoon coffee and going about their business as best they could.

None found any oddity in that Lina was sat with an officer of the Luftwaffe in full uniform, their sight was a common occurrence among the French citizens.

Waking that morning not only to find Marcus in her apartment but her bed too, Lina at first became upset by the idea that he could have been inside the Moulin Rouge.

"You have lost weight," Marcus approached their silence with an observation of Lina's body, the coffee cup set down softly.

Drinking heavily on top of far too many lines of cocaine often stole a person's appetite. Then there was the vigour of the dancing and selling of sex to contend with.

The weight loss was expected, but Lina was not a skeleton, her body was still lithe only smaller.

"I don't know if anyone told you, but constantly dancing and kicking your legs in the air is quite the workout," speaking somewhat sarcastically, Lina placed her cigarette in the ashtray to pick up the coffee.

Sipping the hot and bitter velvet liquid, it slid over Lina's tongue like a small taste of bliss - its best cheap wine, absinthe and whiskey.

Marcus held the table edge in one hand, his other taking Lina's cigarette for himself. "I have heard the stories of what goes on within the Moulin Rouge, and the dancing is not the first thing the men speak of," eyes closing as he pinched the smoke between finger and thumb, he drew on it deeply.

Head in a soft tilt Lina smiled, it was not warm "I think the near-endless fucking would be what caught their interest and would be their choice to speak of. The stories you have heard are all true, and then some," it rolled out her mouth with a careless shrug.

There was nothing to gain by lying about what went on within the Moulin Rouge, Marcus could walk in and find out for himself within five minutes.

"Is that how you have been spending your time?" Marcus was not asking it as a genuine question, and he was not done "Drunk, coked-up to get a little high to climb on the men who flick a coin your way."

There was a hint of anger and disappointment in Marcus's voice, but he managed to exude calmness from his body.

"You realise I did that back home," lighting another smoke Lina spoke once more before putting it to her lips "I'm just getting paid, handsomely, this time,"

Nothing about what Lina was doing sat well with her. Always a woman who embraced her sexuality and knew how to exude and execute it, selling it was something Lina never wanted to occur.

Searching for a man who proved to be challenging to find led Lina to a point where accepting the coin was her own option to start networking and make connections.

"I'm aware-," Marcus flicked the ash from his cigarette ",-That is what you were like. I hoped that being a mother now would have changed that. Or did you forget you have a son?"

Marcus's question's callous and cruel choice reminded Lina that he could be equally sharp as she.

"Don't you dare." Spoken low it was not a whisper, but more of a rasp, Lina was forced to remind herself that she was not in a place where slapping Marcus was wise.

Lina slapped down the coffee cup, went to pick up her handbag to leave but stopped when Marcus trapped it under his boot.

Holding the table with one hand while bending down, Lina looked up when Marcus sat to the side, peering down at her with a sharp focus.

"We are not done speaking yet," Marcus stated his finger flicking, telling Lina to sit back in the chair.

If this were England there would not have been a blink and Lina would leave without the handbag, but this was Paris, and she depended on what was inside it.

Forced to continually carry the papers forged for Lina to leave them in Marcus's possession would be dangerous.

"You're starting to become the greatest regret of my life," Lina mentioned, sitting in far more relaxed a position than how she felt internally.

Marcus didn't take his boot from Lina's handbag but instead scraped it toward him, picking it up.

Not entirely sure what Marcus was looking for or hoping to find, Lina watched in some puzzlement when he searched it.

There was the keys to the apartment, papers safely stored in a back pocket. Cigarettes, money, a mirror, lipstick and some perfume.

All standard elements of a woman's bag.

"You were saying quite the opposite last night." Marcus closed the bag but did not pass it back.

With most of the night a blur and still clueless how Lina even came across Marcus, there was no reason to doubt that she possibly was far kinder in her words last night than in the morning.

"I can't even remember last night," Lina found a reason to smile when Marcus looked at her sharply "Most people would discredit the words of a drunk woman, but you're so desperate, you want to think it true,"

Lina didn't want to wound Marcus; the aim was to break even his comment's unfairness about their son, Elias.

They were approaching December, Elias's first Christmas would be this year, and she would not share it with him.

Lina did not want to be here, not when it meant sacrificing more than Marcus to come to Paris.

"I wasn't speaking of the words that came out of your mouth, but the way you articulated your body," Marcus broke out his sharp stare, and it became a fraction softer.

There was no doubt within Lina that she had slept with Marcus last night, but there was not even a hazy recollection of it within her mind.

To think that Marcus could tell just how Lina used her body to convey the message that she did, so very deeply, miss him, was something she was not prepared to hear.

Their silence was short, and within it, they spoke not with their tongues but their eyes.

Being in the Moulin Rouge let Lina know that letting Marcus go as she had was the biggest mistake she ever made.

They could have worked together, speeding up the process of finding the elusive Toulouse.

If what Haines said about the man was right, the war could well be sped up and brought to its end.

"I didn't come here to argue with you," Marcus slid Lina's bag back to her side of the table "I wanted to know how you were doing, but it seems I should have kept my distance." He stated, picking up his coffee and finishing it.

Lina knew that Marcus was about to leave, and should she tell him that it would be for the last time.

Oh, how Lina despised how weak Marcus made her feel.

Never one to act on desperation or show it, Lina could think of no other way to make it known that she did not want Marcus to go.

"Stay, Marcus." Pride withered and dead, Lina didn't think anything of reaching for Marcus's hand and taking it within hers "Please?"

Lina knew the cruel irony in the word she chose, mostly when it was the very same Marcus used when asking her to wait for him.

When Lina took Marcus's hand there was fear and worry that he would refuse her contact, that Marcus would snatch it back and leave like he planned to.

When Marcus's fingers relaxed, the thumb once rigidly resting and dropping to layover Lina's; there was still no idea whether it was just a delay to their end.

That evening when they talked in the shower cubicle, Marcus said that he would spend every second until his last with Lina was the fourth moment in her life where she could tell she was genuinely happy.

Elias's birth would forever hold the top spot after Marcus told Lina that he loved her seconds before her third moment, and he proposed.

Lina knew that she was fickle, always cruel to this man who had done nothing but gave himself to Lina without hesitation.

"I tried to forget about you," Marcus took back his hand, a slightly wider eyed stare meeting Lina's when she tried to keep hold of it.

Giving Lina another hand, the one Marcus did not need to search the inside pocket of his uniform; his gaze became warm while looking at the picture he drew out "I couldn't,"

Curious to what was in Marcus's hand, what photo he was looking at Lina's heart made a small jolt when he dropped it on her side of the table.

Reluctant to let go of Marcus's hand, but needing to for that moment, Lina kept one within Marcus's while picking the picture up.

Before leaving for France, the picture in her fingers now was the one she spent hours searching for but couldn't find.

It was the only photo of Lina with Elias and Marcus, taken by a rather giddy Lydia when she found out they were engaged.

Though they were not in the right place at the time, Lina had still smiled, and it showed in the photo that it was genuine.

Marcus too looked happy, standing beside Lina with Elias, who showed his best toothless smile, a hand wrapped tightly around Marcus's finger.

For a time thinking it was the only photo that Lina would ever hold of them three, she wanted to bring it with her, to remind her why she was there.

"You had it this whole time?" Lina asked, not once taking her eyes from it.

Marcus held tighter to Lina's hand "I thought it would be the only one I would ever have, so I took it," thinking much like Lina was at the time, Marcus's reasoning was fair.

Tearing eyes away from the still image of the three, standing as a family that was about to be broken, Lina fought with her want to cry, keeping some decorum.

The short pull on Lina's arm when Marcus stood, their fingers still intertwined, there was a quick trip in her step, but she landed safely in Marcus's arms.

"We will figure this out," Marcus dropped to a whisper, letting it fall tenderly into Lina's ear "Together."

Eyes closed, Lina could feel the hard outline of what else was in Marcus's inside pocket, and it was something she never thought would be on his person.

Hip flasks were not uncommon, but Marcus was never much of a drinker, only ever having a couple at a time and never was he drunk.

Could Marcus's smaller size that Lina could feel more accurately beneath her arms be due to drinking?

Not able to notice it before due to the safe distance they kept when dressing that morning, Lina could pick up the faint scent of whiskey.

Never wanting to think that Lina could be the cause of Marcus's self-destructive behaviour, the flags kept coming that she could well have been.

Head coming out of Marcus's chest Lina could see the unhealthy tinge of his skin.

Touching Marcus's face, there was some surprise to find it dry and yet somehow pasty under her fingers.

Marcus indeed was not in g way, and Lina's heart felt like it could shatter knowing it was her selfishness that was the catalyst of it.

"Where are you staying?" Lina asked, not sure if Marcus was on some form of leave or was reposted to Paris.

Marcus's eyes were closed when Lina touched his face, but they opened when she questioned his current place of residence "My accommodations are in the eighth arrondissement," he explained quietly.

Lina could not stop the Moulin Rouge's work, but she could ease back on it a little.

Not living so high a life as used to and needing to be careful of the money made and how it was spent, Lina saved up a tidy sum, enough to keep Marcus too should he agree to what she was about to ask.

"Stay with me, here?" They had lived together once already, and it would be easy to resume doing so.

Marcus lifted a finger, tucking back Lina's hair "It will be like before," though it was not posed as a question, it sounded like it was meant to be one.

Before Marcus was at constant risk of being discovered as an enemy on allied land, Lina was the enemy within the axel powers' land.

The switch of their roles and the dangers they faced were never far behind wherever they stepped.

"Just like before," Lina smiled, still touching Marcus's face it became less searching for clues to what he was up to in their time apart, and more familiarising her senses with the feel of him.

Marcus cupped Lina's hand - the left specifically - where the ring he gave her was still firmly in place, Lina was yet to think about taking it off, let alone try.

This time around things would not be any easier, not with Lina's work inside the Moulin Rouge - it was a necessity to do - but she was sure they could make it work this time, they were not going to be graced with any more chances, so this last one needed to work.

"Can we go home?" Marcus asked, the pure and utter exhaustion within him coming through within his face, he still managed to sound the same softly elusive man when speaking.

Feeling wholesome with Marcus's choice of wording Lina nodded "Let's go home,"


	66. Not Close Enough

Letting Marcus eat the meal cooked Lina left him alone to do so, mentioning that she would join him in a moment.

The apartment was not particularly large, but it overlooked the River Seine and was over the road from the Moulin Rouge, which let Lina watch the people's comings and goings.

None stood out, but Lina knew that their man would not be walking around with a beacon on his head illuminating who he was.

Practising caution was essential to this man's survival, and he was risking nothing.

Turning away from the small balcony, Lina still held some traumatic issues close to them ever since being shot the October before.

Departing the small living cum dining room, Lina entered the narrow hallway, taking Marcus's uniform jacket off the coat stand through the bedroom and into the bathroom.

Slipping across the lock, Lina sat down on the toilet seat, removing the pockets' contents and placing them neatly in the small empty basket beside her.

The flask was half empty and screwing off the lid Lina sniffed its content - vodka, often odourless but this held hints of old whiskey.

Lina knew personally well the slippery slope that drinking as a coping mechanism could become, and she didn't want Marcus to be a victim of it any longer.

Pouring away the Vodka Lina watched it until the last drop vanished down the drain, one small weight falling from her shoulders as it did.

Rolling the jacket around an arm Lina filled the sink with hot water and soap, soaking it within to lift the aroma of Marcus's poorly thought attempt to blot out his mind.

Letting the jacket soak Lina picked up the other contents within the pockets, bundling them in one hand to open the door, the flask was left hidden in the toilet's cistern.

Entering the living room again, Lina left the small coffee table items before joining Marcus at the table - her plate untouched but not cold.

"I put your jacket in the sink," Lina picked up the cutlery - food was not so hard to obtain in France, the selection greater - cutting into the meat "For a soak," explaining the intent behind the purpose, Lina glanced up when Marcus stopped eating.

Not looking up but no longer chewing, Marcus laid both arms either side of his dinner "What did you do with my things?" It was a reasonable question to ask, and Marcus looked at the table when Lina pointed with her knife to it.

How heavily Marcus was drinking in the three months would become evident by his reaction to the missing flask.

There was a short-lived scowl on Marcus's visage, no more than a few, but long enough to be worrisome.

Turning back to the table, Lina sought Marcus's gaze, but he avoided hers, returning to eating "The flask?"

Picking up the glass of water Lina took a sip, washing down her mouthful "I didn't find one," she lied, but held no guilt in doing so.

Finally, Marcus looked up at Lina.

Doubt riddled Marcus's eyes, and it sat on his tongue too "Where have you put it?"

Ignoring the question, Lina resumed eating.

"Lina?" Marcus pressed for an answer.

There was no desire to argue with Marcus, not this soon "Why do you need it?" Facing the issue head-on, Lina prayed that it would make Marcus see the problem for what it was and could become.

Marcus was silent, stewing on the question Lina returned.

Atmosphere stripped of its serenity Lina wished for it to return, but knew things were never that simple to achieve.

Instead, Lina tried a gentler approachability for the concerns over Marcus's suspected heavy drinking.

"Do you need a drink?" Lina pointed to the empty glass beside Marcus's hand "There is only water and coffee I'm afraid. The French don't drink much tea," trying to make it seem more like a gesture than wanting to know what Marcus was asking for.

Getting up Lina came around the table, picking up Marcus's glass, drumming it while waiting for his choice.

Marcus didn't look up at Lina but kept staring ahead like he was yet to notice she was no longer sat opposite "Water will be fine," looking up as he said it, Marcus's eyes were sharp.

Lina did not doubt for a second that Marcus knew what she was trying to do, and made sure to avoid stepping right into the trap laid.

In a battle of wiles and wits, they would need to rely on chance to catch the other out, and it was knowing that that created a problem.

Should Marcus want to hide that he was drinking, Lina would need to be a step ahead to catch him out.

"Best stay hydrated, or that perpetual hangover will get the better of you one day," Lina smiled when Marcus's brow dropped, he hid it well, but there was a noticeable lingering of a hangover on him.

Marcus caught Lina's wrist before she could leave the table side, coming out of the chair as he did.

Imagining that Marcus took offence, Lina did not expect for the amorousness permeating from him.

Staggered when Marcus came in for a kiss Lina could no longer taste the very reason she took his jacket, the smell and flask being the first two indicators, the latter had been the last.

Glass still in hand fell back on the table when Marcus swung Lina around to sit on its edge, knocking over the one she had been drinking from in the process when he pushed between her thighs.

Not objecting to Marcus's wanton needs, Lina couldn't understand where it had come from.

There was a strange aggressiveness to Marcus's approach, so when he tore open the front of Lina's dress, it came more as a shock than excitement.

Never like this before, Lina was in two minds to put a stop to it.

This was not the Marcus that Lina had come to know, and it was frightening to witness him like he was.

"Marcus, stop." Lina ran both hands over Marcus's face, shunting back on the table to keep him from reaching her "Stop."

Marcus relented not needing to be told a third time, letting the tight hold on Lina's sides fall away, his head hung dropping against her chest.

Breathing heavy Lina ran a hand down Marcus's back, the other moving his head to sit over a shoulder "It's ok," there was no sure way to know what was going on in Marcus's head, what it had been through and she would not force him to tell her.

Bringing Marcus in as close as Lina could manage, she laid her face against his.

Lina knew that the blame for Marcus's state lied with her.

"It's ok now," trying to soothe Marcus in any way that Lina could; there was no resistance when he lifted his head seeking a kiss from Lina.

There was no anger behind this one; it was soft, short and sweet.

Marcus came back to himself slow, no longer in need of Lina's support but could stand independently.

Shoulders no longer held in a stoop, they were pulled back and straight just how Lina remembered them to be.

Little progress was better than none, and seeing Marcus trying to resume a grip on his prideful nature was the best place for it to start.

Sitting back a little when Marcus tidied up his attire, Lina curled her legs around the backs of Marcus's, being purposefully obstructive when he attempted his belt.

Sticking a finger through the buckle, pressing the tip on the hem of his trouser, Lina looked up when his hands stopped trying to fix the belt.

Hooking a single finger in the neat collar of Marcus's shirt, Lina failed to hide her smile when Marcus let her pull him down to her lips, the finger in his belt loop flicking aside the fabric that covered the zipper, pushing it down slowly.

Bringing both hands to rest on Lina's back, Marcus, with gentle encouragement, brought her body back to the table edge, two steps taken with more confidence bringing him in close.

Arms back and supporting her body Lina's breath hitched when Marcus slipped in, her thighs squeezing his waist for just a second when he did.

Holding one another's eyes, there was a smile within both that matched the ones on their mouths, a sense of impatience within Marcus as he waited for Lina to speak.

Crossing her legs at the ankle behind Marcus's back, it forced him to bend forward, and when it did, Lina took back a hand to hold his neck "Fick mich!"

Lips parted when Marcus made the first thrust Lina came forward, catching his mouth, biting lightly on his bottom lip.

Holding the base of Lina's back Marcus let the other hand roam her skin, slipping it beneath her slip silk to cup her breast, squeezing it within his hands.

Since Elias's birth, they had grown, no longer the perfect handful for Marcus and something he failed to take notice of when they last slept together in the shower.

There was a surprise within Marcus's face when he felt their supple skin, but he was not displeased or distracted from it for long.

Body long starved of genuine love and attention, Lina sat forward more, holding Marcus tightly and he returned it.

They were as close as the position allowed, and still, it was not close enough.

Lina's arms ached from how tightly she held Marcus, and she was sure that it was the same for him as the hand that lay against her back, letting his hand cradle her head quivered.

Even when they broke apart for air or even a moan, their mouths stayed on one another.

How Lina ever thought she could let this man go was beyond her comprehension.

There was no comparison or anyone who could be close to Marcus.

"I love you," it came out between a soft moaning breath, her eyes on his as it did.

Marcus was the first and only man Lina ever said it to and the only man she would.

Closing his eyes, Marcus cradled Lina to him, taking her from the table, placing them on a chair.

Holding Marcus's thigh Lina took over, hips rolling slowly over Marcus as she leant backwards, putting more of a rocking sway into her hips.

The stiffness in Marcus's thigh warned Lina that he was approaching his finish, she was too.

Since the mishap that led to Elias's birth, Lina took extra caution while working the Moulin Rouge hall by wearing a diaphragm, but she wasn't in this moment.

There was no spoken word, but their eyes met as they were both tilted on the edge of their climax.

In the shower, Marcus had withdrawn just before, but he showed no desire to do so this time, and Lina was okay with it.

Coming forward, pushing her fingers softly up Marcus's face and into his hair, Lina kissed him slowly, savouring the taste of his mouth.

Prolonging their end and slowing down Lina didn't want to decide alone to let Marcus stay within her when he came.

There was no rush to make Lina stand, and so she remained, Marcus's name falling in a tumble from her mouth when her abdomen became a hot rush that spread downward and across her thighs.

Skin in a feverish flush, Marcus's hands felt like hot coals when they travelled beneath her slip, spreading across her back as he held Lina to him.

Breaths shorter, they stayed in place, basking in the small bubble they created for themselves to enjoy this moment.

The outside world and all it held could wait because for this moment in time Lina only had the time and focus for the man she was in the embrace of.

Folding down her arms, laying them on Marcus's shoulders a single finger stretched out, tracing the far sharper lines of his face.

"I'm not letting you go." Marcus parred his lips, Lina's finger pausing from where it traced the bottom one "Not this time."

Lina knew why Marcus said it, why he probably needed to say it.

"I'm not going anywhere," Lina shook her head because she wasn't, not of her own will.


	67. ma place ou la tienne?

When the lights came down, and the curtain up the Moulin Rouge came to life.

Expected to work the stage for the opening that night Lina stood within the line of seven girls and women, arms around one another's waist, a few sniffed.

The fresh lines cut to make them more enthusiastic within their dancing always took a little time for the effect to kick in, but once the music started, their legs kicked.

Crowd livelier than nights before, Lina broke out the line when half of them rushed forward and the other back.

Skirts up and shaking side to side, they worked the stage both provocatively and with vigour - there was not a slow moment once the first lines of kicks were done.

Dressed up in mustard yellow corsets, the lines decorated with black beads that matched the skirts, their more feminine tops hats were tossed into the cheering crowds as the young women - Lina included - came down from the stage and onto the dance floor.

Whistling, cheering, many drinks going topsy-turvy the presence of the soldiers was thunderous that night.

Hooking arms and spinning around with one girl before ruffling the skirts and shaking their chests for the crowds to see, Lina smiled and winked at those closest.

This was where the gambit started, catching a prospective customer's eye during the dance, and often there would be no need to work the floor and wait to be grabbed onto a soldier's lap.

This evening for Lina was different because though she was going through the processes, the discomfort of seeing Marcus in the front row was off-putting.

Listening to the beats of the band Lina knew their number was drawing to an end, but that would mean they were to speed up.

Aligning so that when they picked up their skirts and kicked across the dance floor, they would almost blend as they crossed paths, they had to do it faster than any other part of the dance.

By the wide pupils and sweat coming from some of the women, the cocaine finally kicked in and not a second too soon - their finale was coming.

Turning in spins to their positions, a high kick lifted their skirts into their hands. They were moving coming to the centre of the floor with even spacing until they passed through, turning around hooking each other's waist as they went until the woman in the middle was their pivot, and they turned clockwise in unison for the final can-can line.

The sharp crash of the hat on the drum kit announced the end of their dance slot, and they broke off, chests heaving and panting, flooding into the clapping and whistling crowds.

The can-can was done, but their jobs were not.

The women already in the crowd were waiting, hands out and ready to lift them with fluent ease onto the front tables that were always sturdier and emptier of drinks than any other.

One side of their skirts hiked up and attached to their hips; arms stretched up as if reaching for something, and they were.

Dropped from above were newer top hats, which each caught and slapped on their heads, just as the music started up again.

Those sat around the tables they stood on craned forward, looking up their skirts, while others grabbed at their legs and tried to pull them down.

But a swift kick as the music tempo picked up put an end to it.

Dancing with just the ruffling of their skirts and flashing enticements, this part was always short and only to stir the crowd up more.

Turning in circles and blowing kisses, they hopped down from the tables or were carried off in the arms of a besotted man.

Being the first ones up and opening the night, often meant a better pick of the crowd - and Lina's was pure fortune when the table she was appointed to take held Marcus.

Stepping down, the space between Marcus's closed legs and the edge of the chair small, Lina could see that his hands were waiting for her to miss-stepped.

Practised how to drop onto a prospective client's laps without making it clumsy, Lina took Marcus's face in hand, bending down to him before bending her knees.

Hand down for balance on Marcus's legs, Lina flicked each leg forward, pushing slightly on Marcus's to keep her from just falling on him.

Settled and straddled on Marcus's lap, Lina made sure to tell him before allowing him to come into the Moulin Rouge that she only spoke in French while working.

Second act coming to the stage and kicking up a stir, Lina took the cigarette from Marcus's lips, there was a slight distraction within his eyes as though he was looking at Lina but not totally attentive.

A slight movement explained why Marcus seemed elsewhere in his thoughts, head dropping to check it was not a bunching of his uniform, Lina's face came back up with an amused smile, just as Marcus laid a hand on her side.

Leaning forward, standing on the tips of her boots just enough to take a bottle from the passing dancer's tray, Lina often used the false carelessness to give her client more than an eyeful of her bust.

Marcus responded a little different to most men, and it was with a backwards tilt.

Knowing well enough that it was not a rejection but that he was looking at what Lina was up to, she came back down with the bottle in hand.

Regardless of the fact Marcus was there, Lina would need to keep up the pretence, even if it meant turning down the coin that could be earned while he was.

With Marcus free to speak with the men without giving anything in return, it made him the perfect partner to smoke out Toulouse.

Holding the bottle between them, Lina already made Marcus promise that he would better control his drinking.

There were no shakes - noticeable -,, but he had woken and searched for something stiff to drink that morning, becoming foul-tempered but quiet with it when he found nothing.

Lina didn't want to do it, but she brought Marcus a small bottle to have.

Forcing Marcus to go cold turkey would only cause problems, and so making him cut back and managing what his intake was, was for the best.

Acting distracted while Marcus talked made it less presumably that Lina could, in fact, understand everything he said.

Rocking back a little and leaning on the table to open the bottle chosen Lina fed the cork out the glass with her thumbs.

"I didn't realise your dance lessons included this," Marcus sat forward, making it seem as if he was reaching for his glass on the table.

Lina hummed "I learned all forms of dance; it has come in good use on more than one occasion," speaking in a whisper. Still, close to Marcus's ear she smiled "You seem to have enjoyed it-," pushing herself against Marcus's prominent pleasure from watching she smiled when he coughed to cover a groan "-,So why are you complaining?"

Sitting back Marcus shook his head "I wasn't complaining," disagreeing with the point made Marcus kept one hand rested on the table "I am just wondering if there are others I am yet to see," there was a small, tiny showing of a smirk as he said it.

A knock to the table forced Lina forward and a glance to be made over the shoulder.

Lina could not get used to making accidental - direct - eye contact with either the men or the women when they engaged openly in sexual acts.

Which was why a short "Bonjour!" Greeted the soldier who looked over from the woman he was practically on top of.

Cork freed Lina turned away, arching forward a little when the table was thumbed rapidly.

Meeting Marcus's bemused face Lina could only shrug, one hand blindly searching the table until the glass was procured.

Dangling it out to Marcus he cupped it with his palm "I see now why you said to prepare for anything," he sighed, showing obvious distaste for the open peep shows that were unfolding.

Curling forward a little more while pouring Marcus a measured amount Lina tried to hide that she was speaking by letting her hair hang on of her shoulders "It's why I chose to drink, better to be fucked while getting fucked."

There was no secretiveness over the things Lina did while working when Marcus asked, but she had drawn a line when he inquired a little angrily how many a night she would service.

In a peculiar set up where Marcus knew what Lina at some point would have to do, there came a strange agreement that she would not do it near him or where he could see.

It was why Marcus was sitting at the front with his back to the rest of the room.

Though Lina made it known that tonight she would not seek anyone out and let Marcus do the work that evening to find any lead.

"And-," Marcus used two fingers to pull up the folded paper hidden between Lina's breasts "-,What is this for?"

Inside the paper were small parcels of coke - roughly six providing she was not shorted by Ymir when paying for it.

"Drink makes you sloppy, and tired," Lina stopped pouring, there was two of her fingers worth in the glass "It picks you up and gives you a buzz, which is more than I get from any man here,"

Lina was sure Marcus should not have smiled at that truth, but he did anyway.

Tipping the glass to inspect how much Lina let him have, there was no open complaint made, but Marcus drank it down in one rather than savouring it.

Looking away to hide the disappointment Lina didn't quite know what to make of it when Klemens appeared a few tables away, waving at her as though they saw each other in a park, not a whores dance hall.

Waving back, Lina smiled with a short shake of the head.

Marcus too was looking where Lina was, eyes narrowed and examining Klemens closely "Who is he?" the question was constrained, and came out with a sharp side glance from him.

Returning to focus on Marcus the bottle still between them Lina curled her free arm on Marcus's shoulder, the fingers teasing through the neat parting of his hair. "Klemens. He wants me to meet him next Tuesday," whispering, Lina placed a finger stretched from the bottleneck to Marcus's lips when he started to object, shushing him.

There was no evidence for or against it, but Klemens could well be Toulouse.

"I have to run any avenue until they are a confirmed dead end," reasoning with Marcus softly Lina took back the finger and replaced it with a short kiss. "I am only going to a cafe with him, nothing else," wanting to assure Marcus not to worry she held the back of his head.

There was no sense of normality in their current set up; it felt more like it was something out of the pages of an awry romance novel.

Marcus was a little too inclined to drink, Lina a prostitute, and their son was in a completely different country.

It was a head-spinning set of circumstances, a segment of Lina's life that she wanted to close the lid on and soon.

"Besides," Lina sat back, "You said you could handle this, or have you changed your mind?"

It wasn't so much about Marcus changing his mind but being faced with the reality of the situation they agreed together, to meet together.

Marcus was pressed back stiffly in the chair, the hand on Lina's side coming away, almost falling even "I haven't," he shook his head, dropping his eyes "But you didn't mention that you would be seeing anyone beyond those doors,"

Marcus's position on the matter was accurate, but in the excitement of Marcus being back, Lina forgot about Klemens and the agreed-upon date.

"This is the only one, and only happening because he asked," Lina's fingers flinched when the cigarette she had forgotten about burnt them, dropping it on her skirt she flicked it away, checking that the dress was not still burning.

Marcus had looked up when Lina dropped the cigarette, but only to see what she was doing.

Coming down to catch Marcus's eyes, Lina tried to ignore that he was attempting to take the bottle out of her hand, and keep a hold on it, thinking of a method to distract him somehow.

Knowing already that Marcus was not keen on the concept of their having sexual intercourse in view of everyone, Lina fanned out her skirts, covering his lap.

If Lina had to pay Marcus's body extra attention to keep his attention from drinking, then she was not about to complain.

Taking the glass out Marcus's hand, Lina bent to the side to set it under the chair along with the bottle, coming back up before he could try and stop her.

Both hands free Lina slipped them under her skirts from the thigh so they would not disturb the section that covered Marcus's lap.

Marcus's curiosity short-lived when Lina pulled loose the belt, his frown didn't entirely leave to begin with, and Lina knew it was because he was not comfortable with the idea.

"Look at me and only me." Lina purred almost, before setting a slow kiss on Marcus, coaxing him to pay the hall no mind and focus on her.

It took some time, but Marcus quit looking around them and met with Lina, and once he did, the difference was swift.

Relaxing into Lina's touching but still a little rigid, Marcus settled his hand back on Lina's side, a short buck of his hips creating a slow coy giggle in her mouth that fell out and into Marcus's when he parted his lips.

"See," keeping to a short whisper Lina smiled when Marcus pushed into her hand when it stopped "Not so bad, is it?"

Marcus's tongue skimmed his lip, before they pressed back together, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed back a groan.

Stroking the side of Marcus's face when he curled forward Lina kept him in hand and once more searched the table blind to find a napkin.

Letting Marcus tuck himself away, Lina shared short and fluttering kisses while cleaning her hand, chucking the napkin away once finished.

"Will you be ok if I go?" Lina waited for Marcus to be settled and sat upright before asking.

Checking a pocket Marcus lit up "I will be fine," it came with a smile of assurance, and he tapped her thigh as if to further that it was.

Studying Marcus before starting to stand Lina paused when he softly pinched her chin between finger and thumb, drawing her down for one last kiss before letting her go.

Leaving Marcus to play his part Lina set sights on Klemens, making a path around the tables and bodies to reach his.

"Salut!" Bending down and holding Klemens's shoulders Lina pecked each of his cheeks, the smile he wore becoming a grin.

Sitting down as Lina was accustomed when with Klemens, one arm stretched the broad expanse of his back until the hand fell over the other shoulder "Comment vas-tu?" Asking even if Klemens did not understand, Lina picked up a wine glass, sipping it.

Klemens's brow bunched like he was in thought, a finger rubbing his chin "I can do this, this time," he nodded, sure of himself before facing Lina "Comment vont vos poules aujourd'hui?"

It couldn't be helped, Lina choked on the wine, doubling over when some sprayed from her mouth.

Indeed never being asked how her chickens were before, Lina nearly fell off Klemens's lap when he thumped her back a little too zealously.

Coughing against the back of a hand Lina sat up, peering at Klemens who was flush in the face.

"Votre français s'améliore, mais vous avez encore besoin de travail," using small hand gestures to better explain to Klemens what was said, the colour on his cheeks lightened a little.

Klemens was paying close attention to each word, brows knitted while he did.

Impressed that Klemens placed earnest effort to learn the tongue Lina was using, she searched around for Milo to see if he was about to act as their translator again.

Sadly, Milo was nowhere in plain sight and by the man's shy persona the first time they met Lina assumed that he had not come along that evening.

"I sort of understood," Klemens scratched the back of his head "At least I don't think I insulted you again," again speaking in a mumble it was followed with a booming laugh that shook his chest and jumbled Lina.

Laughing when Klemens tickled a hand up Lina's side, there was immense hesitation when he tried to pull her down and closer to him.

Breaking the promise made not only to Marcus and herself so soon was not about to happen, so she played coy.

Setting a finger to Klemens's lips with a shake of the head, there was a want to laugh when Klemens pouted but desisted.

Pleased that Klemens was apparently not the sort to becoming forceful when refused, Lina passed him a drink to keep him occupied with, which left her a little bemused.

Lina was determined to keep Marcus from drinking only minutes ago, and now with Klemens, she was encouraging it.

Crossing her legs tidily over Klemens's there was no complaint when he used them to rest the beer glass on them when he turned away to engage in conversation with a dark-eyed man who came and sat in the chair beside them.

"You're supposed to be looking for Toulouse, not cosying up to the girls," the man spoke in a low drawl, his unshaven face speckled in grey he kept one eye on Lina.

Playing with Klemens's hair while looking around the room, Lina showed their conversation and its content no interest - even if she was listening so closely like she had the ears of a bat.

Klemens knocked his head into Lina's hand, making her look down at him "Hm?" Head tilted a little to show that she was not sure what he wanted, the softly sad smile on Klemens's mouth said it all.

Standing when Klemens patted Lina's side, she turned a softly flirtatious smile on the unknown man, her hand lightly cupping his chin when he sat back to let her pass.

“Cela ne me dérange pas que d’être invité par un homme aussi beau que vous,” it was spoken in a coquettish but confident purring, a soft rasping tailing her words.

The man showed a more genuine smile; it was cocky and confident; he could understand Lina.

"Je ne paye pas pour mes invitations," he returned, his accent making his voice deeper, eyes mirthful and wolffish.

Leaning down the soldier's chin still in hand, Lina clicked her tongue, eyes half-lidded.

"Qui, a dit que je vous ferais payer?" Flirting with the man while waiving the idea that Lina would make him pay, she let her fingers curl forward until her thumb pressed into the dip of his chin.

If the man was looking for Toulouse too, Lina had to get to him before they did.

Knowing now that Klemens was supposed to be tasked with the same job made their acquaintance a step in the right direction.

Leaving the man before there came a chance that he would either take up the offer Lina presented or turn his returned flirting into an opportunity to insult or humiliate her, the chance became hindered when the man snatched hold on her wrist.

Turning to where he curled his rough-skinned fingers around the wrist, Lina, it took only a second to realise that he was standing next to her.

The man was tall, probably taller than even Elijah.

“Je vais partir bientôt, rejoignez moi?” Posing the invitation, he leant down a little, his breath tickling over Lina’s hair “Laissez-moi vous avoir pour une nuit,”

Asking for Lina to leave with him there were the obvious dangers that it could be a wrong choice to make, but Lina was confident in her ability to defend herself should she need to.

"Est-ce que cela signifie toute la nuit? Ou quelques heures?" Continuing with the suggestive line of their conversation, Lina flicked up her eyes, head tilting out from under the man's chin to regard him.

The man stared back; his dark eyes narrowed lustfully "Je suis un homme de ma parole," he crossed back, letting Lina's wrist go "Alors sois une fille patiente et attends moi dehors,"

Teeth pinched on her bottom lip Lina said nothing else and instead turned around with no promise of whether she would be outside.

Lina told Marcus that nothing would happen beyond the Moulin Rouge's doors, but this would be a whole night.

In some trepidation Lina searched the hall while walking towards the exit, the man she didn't even have a name for a few paces behind after a quick run, he was soon close enough that he had an arm around her waist.

"ma place ou la tienne?" He asked, guiding Lina carefully around the tables and some stumbling soldiers trying their hand at the can-can.

There was no chance that Lina was going to take him back to her place "le tiens,"


	68. Say My Name

When told the man was one who kept his word Lina believed it was his ego talking and nothing else - she was proven wrong.

Departing only one hour from the night-time opening of the Moulin Rouge they walked from the eighteen arrondissements to the seventeenth where the man was taking up residence.

The second the door closed, they started.

Skin kissed in sweat Lina was sure that she met her match in the strong impulsive need to have total control when fornicating with anyone.

Moved from one position to another to the point it was dizzying Lina stopped fighting between the need for breath and the lustful moans the man drew out of her when he pushed her up a little too far in the bed head-butted the iron headboard.

Lips sucked back between her teeth Lina thought better of laughing openly as he could mistake it for mockery of his bedroom manner, but she let it go when he jolted back with a laugh of his own.

Twisting a little Lina cupped her mouth while he rubbed the red spot forming on his forehead with an under breath: “Scheisse!”

Fingers hooking under the hand laid over Lina’s mouth it was playful how he tried to pull it away “You can stop laughing now,” though he too was still doing it himself “We’re not finished yet,”

He turned Lina to her back, laying her flat on the bed while he rested on his knees, holding Lina’s leg against him, easing back into his previous rhythm and waiting for her laugh to return to a moan.

One arm up and holding onto a post of the headboard, Lina didn’t take her eyes from him, not that he would let her.

There was no telling how long they were going for, but Lina had never met a man who held as much stamina as this soldier did - not even Marcus.

Suspecting that he may have taken something to aid with the close to extreme sexual prowess on display, Lina only found short blessings in that he was most certainly not selfish in denying her the joy of their engagement.

It was, however, tiring to go so many times with only short spaces between.

The pace picked up, the man was almost slamming himself into Lina, but it failed to hurt though she knew it should have.

Back arching, he released her leg, arms sweeping under Lina he threw her up to meet his chest and carried on without any attempt to make Lina take over.

He came.

Tired but equally wired, Lina swept a hand through her hair, pushing it back before her head fell against his shoulder.

Letting Lina go to fall back among the tousled sheets, he collapsed beside her, their legs entangled.

Laying for a few moments trying to gather their breath, he turned on the pillow “I don’t even know your name,” casually announcing the fact that they were perfect strangers still, Lina barely moved, but she let her hand fall on his chest “Ismay,”

Becoming used to the false name, being called it and giving it, Lina didn’t need to think when handing it over to the man.

“Ismay?” He repeated “Think I will just call you Issy,” he stroked the short cut beard “Otto,”

Wondering what the problem was with men wanting to attach unwanted nicknames to her person, Lina took back the hand from his chest once he parted with his name “Otto?” Just as Otto had, she repeated it.

“Mhm,” Otto rolled to his side, propping his head upon his hand “I should have told you sooner, would have been nice to hear it in your mouth,” his efforts to be crude stopped short when Lina sat up with: “You were in my mouth, twice.”

Staying as he was, Otto laughed, though it sounded surprised “You’re a crass tongued one, aren’t you?”

Crass was a tame word to describe how solicitous her tongue could be, but she kept that detail to herself.

“I thought you might have forgotten after your collision with the headboard,” knocking on the old iron, the clunk echoed through the hollow poles.

Otto grinned, dark eyes shifting to look at the object in question “Never done that before,” he mentioned with a shrug from the shoulder he was not laying on “Was a nice moment to get a breather,”

Apparently, Otto was not a man who took offence or was upset by his own mishaps, which by comparison to his colossal ego in the bedroom came as a surprise to Lina.

“I would still be laughing if you allowed it,” Lina shifted to the edge of the bed, one foot on the boards she searched the floor for her clothes - only one stocking and a boot were in view.

Otto curled a hand around Lina’s arm “Where do you think you’re going?” It wasn’t sharp or even a warning, but light and airy.

Looking over a shoulder Lina quirked a brow “Home,” she said as if it was not noticeable.

Otto shook his head “I said for a night,”

“Here I thought you just wanted to have your way for as long as you could,” Lina shrugged “Don’t tell me you have more left in you?”

There was concern that he could have. And a look at the small bell clock on the bedside table was one in the morning.

Otto sat up, shifting across the mattress until one half of his chest was pressed on Lina’s back, fingers curling a section of hair around them “Do you often run off after you’re done?”

For just a second Lina had a flashback to when Elijah asked a similar question, back before many things fell apart within her life.

“Did you forget where we met?” Lina tipped back against Otto “It’s my profession to fuck and vanish,” she flicked a finger off his chin, making to sit forward but stopped when Otto curled an arm around her chest, holding the side of her face, pulling it towards him.

Kissing a man with a beard was not something Lina enjoyed when it scratched and scraped over her lips and face, but she nonetheless settled into it.

“I haven’t forgotten,” Otto came away with a nonchalant smile, “I noticed you some weeks ago,” the hand holding Lina’s face dropped down, cupping a breast. “Especially these little beauties,” he squeezed the tender flesh “Little would be inaccurate actually,” he said while looking at them, weighing one almost within his palm.

There was a roguishly handsome manner within Otto and Lina hated how much he was reminding her of Elijah in their early days of meeting.

Pushing Otto’s hand away, gentle with it, Lina regarded him closely, trying to remember if she had noticed him before.

Nothing came to mind, and Lina could not say that his face was one she knew even on passing.

“I don’t go there to pay,” Otto stroked a finger down Lina’s nose “Only to play,”

Lina could not deny the man a smile for his sentiment on why he visited the Moulin Rouge “Are they not the same?” Relaxing back against Otto, she could feel the creeping want for sleep.

“Depends what game you’re playing,” Otto stated, and for just a second, some irritation flickered to life within his eyes.

If Otto - like Lina - were looking for the same man, she could understand his frustration.

Seeing a chance to delve a little by Otto’s own admission, Lina took it “And what game are you playing?”

Otto peered down at Lina with a small shake of the head “One that I can’t tell you,” he stated “And one you should keep your little nose out of,” he flicked the end of Lina’s nose as if to make his point.

Never expecting Otto to go into detail, Lina flicked his nose back.

Surprised by the action, Otto stared back at Lina with a slowly forming smile “I think I will enjoy your company quite a bit,” bringing the arm back around Lina more firmly, he pulled her with him as he flopped back on the bed.

Brought to lay on Otto’s chest he kept an arm around Lina picking up a hair section and letting it run over his fingers.

“I imagine you might,” Lina raised her head “I can not afford to keep you company like this though,” never intending to make any coin that night, it was not for Otto to know that.

There too was the alarming fact that Lina disappeared from the Moulin Rouge without getting a word to Marcus about it - Otto did not allow her the chance.

Otto’s hand settled on Lina’s crown “Would you rather not be a kept woman, than one paid to keep company?”

Lina pushed herself up a little more, resting on her forearm “You’re asking if I would want to be a Courtesan?”

Otto’s mouth dipped into a frown trying to mask a smile “I could be,” he agreed, the hand on Lina’s head floating away “Or I could be saying would you not rather sit pretty on my side, instead of on the laps of those drunken disease-riddled louts?”

If Otto was proposing to keep Lina close and on hand, it was an offer hard to refuse.

Sticking close to Otto would mean potential direct information, especially if Lina kept him under the belief that she did not speak a word of German.

There too was the other side of the coin - Otto was suspicious of Lina.

Either one held pros and cons, and knowing that Otto was searching for Toulouse was the most information she managed to obtain since Lina came to Paris.

Time was rolling by, and with no lead other than Otto, it could not be passed over.

“So you mean to say you wish to keep me sweet, leave me legless and pay me for it?” Stripping the proposal down to its skeleton, Lina laid her head on a shoulder, curiosity aroused by Otto when he turned to his side, laying on his arm like Lina was “I left you legless?” Was all he asked.

Ego obviously stroked by Lina’s choice of words, Otto looked to have bitten on to the small bit she fed him.

“You fuck like a rabbit-,” Lina pushed at Otto’s shoulder, curious to learn if he would allow any manner of control to be taken from him “-,My legs are a little wobbly,”

If the way to Otto’s mind was through caressing his ego, then she would lather him up with a little complaint.

Moving like Lina wanted Otto too, she went with the motion, bringing herself to sit on him while he laid back.

“I’m also not a one-trick pony,” Otto ran his hands over Lina’s side, cupping her rear while she pressed her body down, rubbing herself over him “But I am a one-man show,” his breathing became deeper as Lina’s became shorter.

Wishing now that Marcus did not take the small parcels she paid for that night, Lina wrestled back the fatigue with a renewed amorous bud that bloomed between her thighs - she could go just one more time.

Lifting when Otto showed he was ready for Lina a swirling of her hips sent a delightful shiver through her body.

Keeping Otto beneath Lina this time around, she took his hands within hers, their fingers knotted together Lina looked down at him with a smile when he made a rather ego fuelled demand: “Say my name.”


	69. Points of Attention

Dawn was chilly in early November in Paris - colder when ill-dressed for it.

Arms crossed tightly as if it would help to chase off the exposed skin's bitter nip, and Lina walked the seventeenth arrondissement streets briskly.

Awaking in Otto's bedroom no less than ten minutes before Lina crept around the apartment gathering her clothes and dressing in the darkened hallway - no easy feat to do with a corset.

Spending the night with Otto was what Lina agreed too but not what she planned to do.

Pigeons flocked on the cobbled pavement, pecking at crumbs and cigarette ends, their beady little eyes watching Lina commit the worst walk of shame she ever had.

Looking around the barely alive streets Lina saw with her own eyes that she was not alone, many women, some men, and a few soldiers were walking with their heads down to get home with little notice.

For Lina, it was more than about hiding away from public shaming; it was urgent.

While searching through the darkness for the discarded - and ripped - clothing Lina stumbled upon a slip of paper, poking out of Otto's jacket pocket.

There was a chance it was left as it was on purpose, but Lina still dared a peek before carefully setting it back as it had been.

It was a list of names; some scratched off, many still sitting in black ink and waiting for elimination.

Consisting of known and possible aliases used by Toulouse all were committed to memory.

Catching sight of the red windmill Lina was mere seconds from the apartment, and Marcus.

Taking the corner at a run, Lina came to a tripping stop when the sad image of a hunched over man on the doorstep of the apartment she lived in looked up.

One boot on the step below where Marcus was sitting, the other stretched out onto the pavement, a pile of cigarette dogs ended littering the space beside him - Lina had the key.

Marcus didn't move, but his eyes did, trailing Lina head to toe he focused on critical points.

Hair a mess, corset way too loose, skirts ripped and stockings laddered, Lina was the epitome of a mess.

Tired, face drawn and jaw fixed, Marcus turned away, snubbing Lina almost when he did.

There was no blame or fault to be found with Marcus, and Lina knew it.

Before Marcus, Lina could say nothing other than the snippet she held in her memory and tongue to excuse abandoning Marcus as she had.

At the very least, Marcus looked and smelt sober, only heavily scented with smoke.

"You said that nothing would go on beyond those doors-," Marcus didn't look around, but he pointed at the very doors of the Moulin Rouge ",- and I said I would control my drinking," it came out in a drawl, direct and making way straight to his point "I kept my end of the deal."

Should they be anywhere else, Lina would have answered Marcus straight away, but she couldn't risk it, not now.

"Do you enjoy this lifestyle?" The question was painfully sincere, and still, Marcus would not look at Lina. "Sleeping with whoever, drinking until you can't even stand, no responsibility," he listed off the cause of his reasoning for the question "Is this how you want your life to be again?"

In a bind, needing Marcus to be silent and not draw any unwanted ears to their one-sided conversation, Lina rushed Marcus.

Knee cracking on the step, Lina paid it no more mind than with a strained cry, forcing Marcus down his boot kicked up when she bowled them into the double doors.

With a hand over Marcus's mouth, Lina tried to clarify that it wasn't an attack, or not intentionally.

"I can't talk out here," whispering it against Marcus's ear when he made a start to throw Lina off, her hands became frantic almost in trying to quell Marcus, cupping his face within them "Please, come inside, and we will talk,"

Marcus's eyes switched from anger to confusion, brow furrowed deeply by Lina's voiceless plea he at least was looking at her.

"Please, Marcus, this is important," trying again when it looked like Marcus would refuse, Lina slid off him, removing the pressure she was applying by squeezing Marcus's ribs between her thighs.

Ending up sitting in an almost slump between Marcus's legs when he sat up, Lina set her hands back on his face.

"I'm not doing this because I want too, Marcus," dropping to a complete whisper she scanned their vicinity, it was vacant of human life besides them - but it didn't mean that no one was listening, it meant they were just unseen.

"I want to go home, and I can't do that without this man," Haines made it known loud and clear that Lina could not return empty-handed, no matter how long it took.

"I don't want to sleep with these men, they're not you," this was not about convincing Marcus, but telling him that his paranoid thoughts were untrue and vicious, a fabrication created by Marcus's jealousy.

"I don't want to be blind drunk. I like my responsibilities, I love that I am a mother, that you gave him to me," all Lina wanted out of all of this was to go home, be with Elias and Marcus, for this all to be over "I love you!"

Stressed, wanting Marcus to understand that nothing of what Lina did was to hurt or taunt him in any way, Lina knelt up on the step to be closer to him "If I could leave this place and follow you, Marcus, I would go without a second thought,"

Face riddled in deep conflict, Marcus's shoulders lifted with a deep intake of air "Why is it you only say these things when we are put into a situation like this?"

Lina didn't need to think to know what Marcus was speaking about - she only ever made her feelings known when it was forced out of her.

"I never get a chance to, there is always some damned thing that crops up," Lina was tired, exhausted of trying so hard only to be forced back by a new problem that dropped in their path "We only get these small glimmers where everything is wonderful, and then it's not,"

They were in trying times, enemies by nationality, facing trial after trial.

Marcus sunk forward, dropping his head so it rested on Lina's "I sometimes wish we could just go back to how it was when we were living together in Dover," he sounded as defeated as Lina felt "Everything was easy then, I didn't have to spend my time, driving myself crazy, thinking about who you were with or what you were doing,"

Lina wished the same as Marcus, and like she had said that night after confronting him over his true identity, how different things could have been if only the circumstances of their meeting were different.

"I have something Marcus, it is not certain, but the man I was with last night is looking for the very same person we are," careful on bringing Otto into the conversation, she stepped around it with caution "I found a list of known aliases of this person, it could well just be a setup, but this is the lead that we have been after,"

Marcus looked down at Lina, keeping his head rested on her "Alright, the sooner this is over with, the better."

Open yet closed, Marcus withheld the displeasure of learning where Lina had been, focusing instead on what it could get them - a chance to be free of this storm cloud rumbling over their heads.

"I want this over with as much as you do," trying to reassure Marcus, a part of Lina wished that he had never come to Paris in search of her, but all the same she could not have been happier to have Marcus back within her life "We need to stay focused, just get this done and then we can figure out the rest,"

If it were not for Elias, there would be no hesitation from Lina to leave it all behind if it meant she could stay with Marcus.

Kneeling up, forcing Marcus's head to move away Lina put her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck Marcus reciprocated, bringing Lina in as close as the steps between them allowed.


	70. The Paintings on the Wall

A sereneness enveloped the bathroom.

Lit by candlelight the flames shivered when the draught seeped through the cracks of the old sash windows, creating a whisper, sharing its secrets with the hush of the rain.

Sharing the bath with Marcus, their bodies snug within the porcelain, Lina turned from the rippling glass of the window when Marcus passed back the cigarette.

Nestled between Lina's legs, Marcus's head settled in the small space that separated her breasts, Marcus's arms tucked over Lina's legs, a single finger caressed one.

Their prospective lead should have taken priority over anything else. Still, on waking after a short rest the morning after departing Otto's apartment, Lina knew where her attention needed to be.

Marcus was trying to relinquish the dependency he grew on alcohol when they split onto their own paths in the August of that year; the drink held different inclinations.

Discovering Marcus on that afternoon three days prior in a state of deep intoxication that left him departed from his personality and with a persona that Lina never wished to play witness to again, Lina made her choice.

Marcus needed Lina's support which she could not give while trying to scratch names off a list of people who could be the man both sides of the war were hunting.

Seeing Marcus as he was now, relaxed and calm, Lina concluded that Marcus turned to the drink when he could not quiet his mind when his concerns became manipulative demons whispering in his ear.

Since Lina hid Marcus's money and her's, kept him focused - not distracted - there was a noticeable change within him.

Skin no more a sad shade of sallow, or oily, Marcus was becoming his old self a day at a time.

There was no stoop in Marcus's shoulders when he thought Lina was not looking, his eyes deep and intense no longer had the thousand-mile stare that left Lina feeling that he was with her in body but never mind.

Drawing long and slow on the cigarette Lina dropped her head back over the rim of the bath, watching the silhouettes of the rainfall ripple across the ceiling.

"Do you want to go out tomorrow?" Marcus brooked their mutual and comfortable silence; he sounded like his old self, calm, calmly confident and eloquent with it.

Exhaling Lina blotted out the ceiling with the cloud that twirled from her mouth "Do you want too?" Not particular over how they spent their time, Lina could continue as they were and know that she was at peace with it.

Inside the apartment where no one knew they were there, it was their own small haven, their safe place where they could be with one another with no external interference.

This was precisely how Lina wanted it to be with them; there was only Elias missing that kept it from being the perfect picture she held in mind.

Marcus's hand closed around Lina's lower leg, thumb flicking back and forth while he thought about it.

"I do," Marcus turned into Lina's palm when it tucked under his chin, lips brushing the thumb "Only for a walk, a breath of fresh air," putting forward the idea of going for a walk, Marcus ran the hand on Lina's leg up, stopping at the fading bruise on her knee.

When Lina tackled Marcus on the steps, it was shades of yellow and green, small and starting to fade.

Mulling over the idea of a walk, Lina wanted to tell Marcus that they could, but it was not possible.

Should anyone hear, them talking who attended the Moulin Rouge, or anyone at all come to learn that Lina was more than proficient with her German the image and reputation built would come crumbling down.

"I want to," Lina was regretful over the choice to keep her bilingualism a secret, it was more so a hindrance than it was of benefit now Marcus was with her again.

Marcus took the hand from Lina's knee, using the thigh to rest the elbow so his fingers could press to his skull "You're worried it will cast doubt on you should anyone hear us talking," he spoke Lina's concerns for her "It's ok, I understand," he said it, and made it known that he meant it.

Becoming more assured within his old self, it was heartwarming to see Marcus come back to being the man he was when they met.

There were no backhanded comments, no paranoia induced questions or doubt over why Lina was doing what she was.

Marcus relapsing was a fear that lingered, and Lina would not know if it could happen until they stepped back into the hall of the Moulin Rouge.

The progress Marcus made in such a short time was impressive, but he still held notes of fragility.

"We can stay here a little longer, can't we?" Lina didn't want to leave, not when she had Marcus all to herself and could bask in his presence even if it was only a simple thing that they were doing.

Marcus took the hand away from his head, wrapping it around the arm Lina sat on the edge of the bath, entwining their fingers "We can," bringing Lina's hand to him a kiss brushed the knuckles "For a little longer," settling their joint hands on his chest he dropped his head back on Lina, eyes closed "But we are leaving ourselves in a vulnerable position if we are not out there,"

What Marcus said made perfect sense - they were out of the loop of current affairs, which meant their objective could already be caught.

"Tomorrow night then," Lina couldn't help the bitterness that soured her tongue and mood "Let's stay here until then?"

Marcus touched upon Lina's cheek, rubbing it with his thumb "That would be for the best," he too sounded displeased, but he spoke with conviction.

Lina knew that Marcus was a man who once his mind was set and an objective was confirmed that he would pursue it to its end.

Even if she deviated at points, Lina was much the same; she never forgot what needed to be achieved.

Sitting up, unsettling Marcus from where he rested on Lina it was only done so that she could wrap both arms around him, shuffling down the slope of the bath until she could comfortably reach his mouth.

"I love you," Lina whispered, brushing the tip of her nose over Marcus's as she did, Lina's tongue peeked between her teeth when she taunted Marcus with the promise of another kiss but kept it from him.

Feeling the hand close on an ankle, Lina giggled when Marcus tugged on the leg gently, forcing her further down the bath, which let him take the kiss from Lina.

Short and sweet, they were tantric.

Sitting in a booth toward the back of the hall, Lina watched the opening act from a spectator perspective - it was tantalising.

Excusing Lina's couple days absence on being ill with some flattery to Otto's ego about being too physically worn out to attend the hall, Lina pretended to show the men no mind while they talked.

Sat on Otto's right and tucked under the arm he stretched over the back of the booth seat, Lina held her chin in hand, fascinated by the dancers' provocation - was this how Lina looked to the men?

"You can talk freely," Otto assured the other two men at their booth "She can't understand us."

One of the men - Hans - showed discontent with Lina's presence in the booth with a slightly sneering smile "Since when did you start flipping coins for whores?" Directing the scathing question at Otto, it was noticeable that he kept attention on Lina.

Otto laughed; it was a little dark.

"I have never paid for a woman, and I am not about to start," Otto rebuked, taking the hand off the backrest, his fingers worked into Lina's hair, twirling it around them "She's not seen a glimmer of my coin, and never will."

That was a lie; Otto handed Lina an eye-watering sum at the start of the week - more than she could have earned within a month.

To cover Lina's expenses as Otto put it, he handled the money as if it was not worth the paper it was printed on.

The second man, who was yet to be named wore a sneering, cocksure smile - always.

"Are you besotted with a harlot?" The cocksure man teased, shrugging into the gulp of his beer "Has her syphilis spread to your brain?"

Their laughs were guffaws, belly-deep and clapping the table at Lina's expense.

Glancing around, seeming confused by what could be so funny, Lina turned to Otto with a wobbly smile.

Carefully Otto subjected Lina to an intense visual inspection before he leant over and placed a swift kiss on her temple. "It's nothing," he murmured into her ear, stroking her cheek "Pay them no mind," he sat back, leaning heavily on the side furthest from Lina.

Fidgety, Lina returned to watching the stage while mentally committing the men's faces to memory - she would break their jaws once chance presented herself.

Able to keep up the visage of not knowing what was said unless it was in French came with ease, mainly because Lina would tune out unless it were important.

Otto tried and tested Lina multiple times, sliding in an insult or comment in the most inappropriate occasions.

One such being when Otto had Lina on her knees and quipped that she was doing it wrong - only for him to cum a few short seconds after.

Lina knew with utmost certainty that her mouth never had complaints any time she was not talking.

Left being the person who was uninvolved in the talks - or so they thought - Lina would spend most nights with Otto bored while he worked the room.

Rarely speaking with the women beyond telling them to leave when he located someone he wanted to talk with helped Lina in an unspoken way.

Marcus paid attention without ever showing that he was.

Nights spent in the arms of Otto it was the mornings and afternoons when Marcus was free that she would spend with him.

With the handsome sum of money Otto gifted Lina, it paid for Marcus to have his own place not far from where she was living.

Not wanting to face the conundrum of being caught together the decision to live apart was mutual.

It made going home lonesome some mornings, but Lina knew it would only be a short time spent alone before she could join Marcus.

They would talk over a meal before sharing what they gathered, then spend the rest of their time sharing whatever surface suited their urges at the time.

* * *

**-x-**

* * *

"We have confirmation, finally, of this man's true name," Hans spoke in a low whisper, leaning low to the table looking behind before fixing a darkly exciting stare on Otto "Talon Dupont."

Otto sat forward, taking the arm that Lina was tucked under over her head, bringing it to the table to join the other "Are you sure?"

Acting idle and bored, Lina lightly stroked Otto's back while he became enraptured by Hans juicy tidbit - and finally, Lina had a name that just needed a face.

A face Marcus claimed to have already met.

Looking up when Otto lifted his arm, waiting for Lina to come under it, she shuffled forward, ducking under before Otto brought it down with a whispered "Slowly."

At first not sure what Otto was speaking about, Lina wasn't left in wondering for long.

Otto didn't look at Lina again, but she shifted around in his arms until her legs were settled over Otto's and raised enough to create a cover.

Otto was more than a handful in many ways, but Lina obliged the odd timing of his desire, stroking him slow but squeezing a little when reaching his tip.

Covering it well, Otto continued in the conversation as if Lina was not doing anything more than cuddling up to him.

Hans and the other man were too busy detailing their find and how they came about it, that they had insight into why he was using the alias Toulouse.

"He paints messages in his artwork." The other man held out a hand, gesturing to a painting behind Hans "Leaves them all over the city, and it's his contacts who are the only ones able to decipher,"

Otto created rest for his chin in the hand that was not fluctuating pressure in its grip on Lina's side "Toulouse-Lautrec," he mentioned "The dwarf-like artist," Otto showed the hall a little more attention than seconds previous "How cunning a man he is,"

The information was within the paintings?

Could there have been a message sitting right under Lina's nose this whole time?

Leaning her head on Otto's chest Lina put on a smile when he curled up the hand from her side, stroking back Lina's hair, eyes dark and mirthful when they found her.

"Do we know where these paintings can be found, even just one?" Otto asked, his voice coming under a little strain, Lina continued as he wished and made it slower.

Hans strummed his knuckles on the painting behind his head - it was of a white horse in a poppy field.

"One right here," Hans pointed across the hall to another "Over there too,"

Otto took the hand out from under his chin, running it across his mouth like he was in thought, but Lina could see the strained swallowing of a groan, it rumbled in his chest.

"Come back when this place closes," he dropped into a husk "Collect them all,"

Lina could not let them make off with the paintings if they really were invaluable.

"You can go now." Otto made it known that their talk was over, sending Hans and the other man away from their booth.

Once they left, Otto's composure crumbled some, but not enough to be incapable of telling Lina to finish him with her mouth.

Again needing to move Lina took care slipping under the table not to hit her head, she took Otto in her mouth, swirling her tongue around the tip before sliding down.

Hand still in Lina's hair Otto soon tucked it under her chin, making her look up at him.

There was more than a simple lustful smirking on Otto's mouth, something was hidden within it, like what he was about to say was going to be quite the surprise - and it was.

"We are going to be taking a trip to Germany," Otto said with no sign that argument would be permitted.

Lina couldn't go to Germany, not now that she knew what to look for and the name of the man they were to find.

Otto took away the hand from under Lina's chin "Don't worry about the language barrier, I will be the only one you need to speak with," he mused, with some seriousness.

Lina would need to find Marcus, and soon.

This was a predicament that Lina could try and avoid, but would need valid reason too.

Swallowing when Otto came, Lina came out from under the table, wiping her mouth and seeking something to wash away the taste.

Taking Otto's drink, Lina knocked it back, swilling it a little bit before swallowing again.

All the while, Otto watched Lina with a smile from more than the favour she paid him.

"You look unsure about joining me," Otto cut straight to the chase, sitting forward to take Lina's chin in hand once more "You have nothing to worry about, I will keep you safe," there was surety in his words, and as though to seal them Otto kissed her cheek tenderly.

It was not Lina's safety that was the concern, but she couldn't tell Otto that she needed an out from their arrangement.

"Why do I need to go?" Lina asked, searching the table for the cigarette packet she stopped from lighting one.

"It's a long journey by train," Otto smiled, it was riddled with lusting "I want your company,"

Germany was not a place Lina intended to end up, not with Otto.

Lina, however, needed to play the part "How long is a journey?"

Otto's smile grew "A very, very, long one," he came in for a kiss, running fingers through Lina's hair.


	71. Mine

Pacing the length of Marcus's living room, Lina swung up a hand.

"I don't know who I pissed off upstairs-," the pointed finger became a fist "-, But I think I have had more than my fair share of this karmic bullshit."

Marcus looked up at the ceiling "I don't have anyone above me."

Lina could not tell if Marcus was being purposely sarcastic or didn't understand the turn of phrase, but she threw a cushion at him regardless.

It hit Marcus in the chest with a dissatisfying little plop, not even enough force within it to dislodge a hair on his head - his eyes did close up a little bit though.

"The paintings, that's what was meant by Toulouse being at the Moulin Rouge," Lina rubbed her forehead stressfully "The paintings hold messages,"

They could not be taken until the Moulin Rouge closed so as not to draw attention or alert anyone to what was happening - and it only closed on a Sunday.

Which meant they had three days to think of something to keep them out of Otto's and his worker bees from getting their hands on them.

Marcus kicked aside the cushion "He did something similar with the coordinates, they were within what looked to be a sketch of a landscape. The bird's wings held numbers,"

Mildly impressed at the actual simplicity Lina was yet to say the other problem.

"He's going to take the paintings when Moulin Rouge is closed," hands in the pockets of the coat she was yet to take off Lina smiled a little on seeing the wine bottle she turned up with some days before, still untouched "He will be taking them to Germany, and he wants me to go with him,"

Tomorrow would be the first of December, Lina could not be wasting her time on a holiday to Germany - especially not when there was a high chance Lina would be recognised.

Victoria possessed direct ties to Germany; there was no telling who would know that Lina was not a prostitute called Ismay.

Marcus did not react to the paintings' taking, but he looked up when the trip to Germany was mentioned, the cigarette pinched between finger and thumb squeezed a little tighter.

"Do you know where you are going?" Marcus opened a drawer of the bureau taking out a map "If you can get off, there are always stops between the border regardless of who is travelling,"

Spreading out the map on the table, Marcus used the new wine to hold down one corner to stop it curling over, his hands spreading out to the other corner, he looked at Lina to bring something.

Checking the room, Lina found a cup that Marcus was drinking from when she arrived and an ashtray.

Bringing them to the table Lina set them, so they kept the corners from curling up, taking a book from the sofa to weigh down the corner Marcus was holding.

Once free Marcus tapped a finger on Paris, eyes flicking, following trails on the map "He will secure your entry into Germany, he can't risk not too," Marcus's finger traced the route up towards the border of Germany "You will likely enter via Stuttgart," he tapped it "Close to the Black Forest,"

Lina was familiar with Germany; she would visit it during the summer vacations with her father and Vilem "Stuttgart," she stared at the lettering, half-hidden by Marcus's finger "I know it well," at least she did some six years ago "I can find my way out of there,"

Marcus side glanced Lina "How familiar are you with Germany?"

At the question, Lina returned the side on look. "I was ten for my last official visit, but we holidayed there often, there isn't a place I haven't been," she would travel with Vilem and their father to visit the small towns and villages, even the ones that were hidden within the Black Forest.

"I was in Germany-", she pointed to the Forest "-When Vilem gave me my nickname,"

The small bluebird was on a tree, catching Lina's eye with its plumage that stuck out against the evergreens of the Black Forest, and she left the pathway, going deeper into the forest to find it and only ended up lost.

As a child, Lina would often have her head turned by something and with no sense of danger, follow it.

It was why Vilem was snarky when he said that Lina was always getting lost, and he would have to come to find her.

The nickname started as a light teasing from Vilem, but it ended up sticking.

"Well," Marcus stood back a little, one hand still on the map "That will help a little, but trying to come back over the border will be difficult, especially if you vanish," deep in thought, brow creased with it, Marcus was staring out the window when he tapped Lina's arm.

First looking at Marcus, he kept focused on the window, that Lina looked outside.

On the railing, was a single bluebird.

It was staring at them.

* * *

**-x-**

* * *

Otto was pensive.

Warm from their frivolous conversations with their bodies, they laid without the blankets, one leg entangled Lina watched the first snowfall of winter arrive in a flurry from Otto's chest.

Noticed some weeks before that Otto was particular about Lina's hair, preferring her to wear it down so that he could play with it, he left it alone that evening.

Painstakingly since the confirmation of Toulouse's actual name and the paintings, Otto stopped visiting the Moulin Rouge, choosing instead to bring Lina to his apartment for their agreed nights.

"I have meant to ask," Otto lifted the hand from Lina's shoulder, stroking back her hair "But where do you go during the day?"

Lina was prepared and almost surprised that Otto did not ask sooner.

Aware entirely of the man Otto set on Lina's skirt tails from the day after he passed over the money, she chose Marcus's apartment for a reason.

"I model for an artist sometimes," below Marcus was an art studio that was owned by a charming little man who would often drink too much and fall asleep during the modelling sessions - a small sleeping agent often helped it along.

Otto perked a little "Nude?" He asked, there was an underlined and intense displeasure within the single word question.

Sitting up a little Lina looked down at Otto "No, he is a fan of the Ancient Greek style," she shook her head "He particularly likes Artemis," spending an hour standing with a bow drawn and not firing it between the old man's eyes was something of a test of will for Lina.

Could Otto be aware of Marcus and that he lived above the studio?

"Why are you still working?" Otto asked, sweeping a hand through Lina's hair "You can't have spent that money I gave you already?"

A large amount went with paying for Marcus's apartment, but it didn't seem to dent the money Otto gifted Lina - it left her wondering where it came from.

"No, I haven't," Lina ran a finger over the neatly trimmed beard Otto kept "I have a lot more free time, and it's a little fun to model for an artist," it was common for prostitutes to become subjects of artists' works.

"He's a funny old man, and tells me stories as he paints about what Paris was like when he was young,"

Philippe really was a sweet man, and Lina did feel guilty for using him as she did.

Otto seemed to be dissecting what Lina told him, looking for a reason to call her a liar.

If Otto found one, he didn't say it.

"If you are bored, you can spend that time with me," it was not a suggestion, Otto was expecting Lina to agree.

Lina peered at him "I have not got that much energy, I need to recuperate," turning the subject into a small joke, Lina could not tell Otto that it was the daytime she looked forward to most.

Otto was so easily swayed when Lina stroked his ego, the smile less tense, and the short-lived ire within his eyes gone, there was a show of what usually came before they would have sex.

Eyes drowned in want and lust, Otto's smile became devious.

With their nights spent together and no break allowed by their time in the Moulin Rouge, Lina shook Otto off when he tried to start again.

"I need a little longer," Lina mentioned, sitting up and searching at the end of the bed, Otto's shirt would suffice "I have to use the bathroom,"

Dressing - in a loose term - Lina climbed over Otto, pausing when he clamped his hands to her sides, holding her above him.

Confused, Lina watched Otto shift up the headboard, keeping her on his lap as he did.

Otto's hands left Lina when his legs were drawn up - almost becoming a backrest for her - and he laid his arms on the knees, sitting forward.

"I don't want you modelling, not anymore," Otto stated, the possessiveness and control he exuded in the bedroom carrying over into his personality "All of this," he took a finger, tracing it from Lina's nose, down her chin and neck "Is mine."

Lina did not take particularly well to being treated like an object - never had.

Otto's finger continued down Lina's body, stopping at her chest "These," he pointed to her breasts, before carrying on down, using his whole hand to cup the space between her thighs "And this is mine and mine alone."

Seeing the determined adamance in Otto's eyes let alone the conviction he spoke with, Lina tipped forward, taking Otto's head within her hands and kissing him fiercely.

Lina was a possession of no one, other than of herself.

Working alongside Marcus to obtain the paintings and Toulouse with hopefully the least bloody methods, Lina would soon be rid of Otto.

Providing all went to plan.

Should they fail, Lina would torch the Moulin Rouge herself - Better that neither side got their hands on the paintings, then Germany.

* * *

-x-

* * *

The restaurant would have been delightful, if not for the company - or one of at least.

Sitting on the window side on Otto's left and directly opposite Marcus, Lina could imagine no more a ridiculous setup - other than possibly Elijah seated in the space next to Marcus.

"It took some tracking you down-," Otto paused to take a mouthful of the ordered meal, chewing it slow and ponderously "-, I did not expect for your transfer to be to Paris on your return,"

Marcus rather kindly failed to mention that he knew Otto.

Switching over the leg that Lina had crossed, she kicked Marcus under the table - he jolted.

Curious of what happened Otto looked over at Lina while Marcus corrected his position.

"Pardon!" Lina sat up a little, giving Marcus an apologetic smile.

Brushing away the lint left by the kick, Marcus shook his head "No harm done." He swept it off as a small accident, but there was a smile that lit up his eyes.

Otto finished his mouthful "She can't understand you," he carried on with his meal "So I wouldn't waste your breath," he shrugged one shoulder "How long have you been here?"

Once more like some pretty bird sitting in a cage only to be looked at but never to sing, Lina would at least enjoy the food - which Otto ordered for her.

Hitting a pothole in the planning when Otto decided but made sure that Lina saw no one other than himself, this was the first evening that she could see Marcus - and it was hindered.

Marcus resumed eating as well "About a month," he spoke between a bite of food "I was posted here to oversee the set up of a base for a new airfield, but nothing has come of it yet,"

Marcus told Lina much the same but with a little more depth. Paris did not have an airfield as such, not a proper one, but it was under construction on the city's outskirts.

Germany wanted a more central location to host the Luftwaffe within France that would be easier to resupply than where they currently were on the coastlines.

Being close to the sea left them vulnerable to overhead planes and the battleships should they be able to come in close enough.

"Must be driving you to stir crazy being so idle," Otto laughed, picking up the wine glass "You were always doing something,"

Marcus concurred with a tilt of his head "Being idle is not a practice I care for, but I've been kept busy enough otherwise,"

There was no look shared, but Lina hid the smile behind a bite of her food - Otto chose well with the meal choice.

Otto snorted a short laugh "I didn't imagine you one to frequent the whore houses," he jibed "But I happened to notice you within the First palace for women a few times,"

Making it known that Otto spotted Marcus within the Moulin Rouge, it was a hidden blessing that beyond Marcus's first night there, they did not interact at all.

"I was told it was a place that must be seen," Marcus turned his wine glass slowly on the table, spinning it by the stem.

"I can't say it is to my taste, but I do find some intrigue within it," he spoke like he was a spectator to some wondrous and exotic phenomena, there to watch but never touch.

Departing interest within the plate of half-eaten food, Otto stretched out an arm, laying it on the back of Lina's chair and once more playing with her hair.

Lina was in half a mind to cut it to spite Otto, but she liked the length it had grown, it was an inch, maybe less, from the bottom of her back.

"Intrigue, hm?" Otto twirled a piece of hair around his finger, a little tight for comfort "I have something that would be of better to your liking, and skills should you want to help an old friend?"

Wording it like it was an offer, Otto was effortlessly beguiling at times, but his speech was somehow always more like a petulant demand.

Otto wanted what he wanted, and that was that.

"You have my attention, there is no need to flout the fact we happen to get along from time to time," Marcus sat back in the chair but failed to let go of the glass.

Otto locked eyes with Marcus, a downward turn at the corners of his mouth "From time to time," repeating it back as though lost in a memory, Otto's hand left Lina's hair "You've always been an arrogant arse," it came out with a laugh, but it was bitter.

Marcus barely moved "If you define my arrogance by your own, then, by all means, I am so," he picked up the glass "If we measured it against my standards, it would be that I execute everything without flaw, while you just blow smoke out your arse because you're incapable of doing anything for yourself,"

Otto showed deep dislike but contained it, Lina was in a losing battle not to either agree with Marcus's point and not laugh.

Otto was talented in how he moved people and made them do the legwork, he was even brilliantly coercive, and he knew what he was doing in the bedroom, but beyond it, he was hapless.

"On the contrary Buckler, blowing smoke is what got me this far," Otto raised his glass as if to make a toast "Your flawless execution got your plane downed and sent you into hiding,"

Lina's head tilted a little - that was her doing Marcus's plane being brought down.

"It was actually quite the pleasant holiday," Marcus raised his glass back "I got to see all the sights, and they even took me on as a pilot and gave me the plane to fly back," he smiled "What have you managed in that time?"

Otto was stumped.

Swirling the wine around the glass, Marcus watched it create a small whirlpool in the centre "So are we going to speak about what you need me to do because you can't manage it yourself-," he took the wine down in one "-, Or shall we continue this one-sided battle of wits?"

Curious to what Otto would ask of Marcus - if he managed to revive his ego - Lina turned to look out the window, before snapping away from it.

This could not be happening.

Not trusting her own eyes Lina looked again, staring in pure disbelief at the sight before them.

Sitting on a bench in the uniforms of the Heer was Andy, Peter, Winters and Haines.

Three of which waved while Haines sat with arms crossed and a face like absolute thunder.

A small, nervous giggle fled Lina's mouth, and she had to stop herself.

Catching Marcus's eye when they both looked over, Lina flicked hers to the window, directing what needed his attention.

Facing Otto when he became more than a little curious for the laugh's cause, Lina could not love her Squadron anymore than she already did when she looked back.

Haines had pushed Winters off the bench, and he was stuck with his legs curled over it.

Andy was saying something to Haines that required him to stretch out his arm and force Peter to lean back as he did.

Lina was sure that she could cry at just seeing their faces again, but it was chased back when Otto gripped her chin and made her look up at him.

"Tu me regarde seulement." It was nothing less than a warning made, and Otto's slight pinch to her skin made it more transparent than it was.

Hating that Lina could not be herself but was forced to pretend to be the persona designed for Ismay, she looked away and back at the table.

No longer watching the four men, Marcus was focused on Lina but not in the most obvious way.

Marcus extended his boot with care and caution, hooking it behind Lina's ankle, and waited.

Softly Lina ran her heeled foot up Marcus's leg, caressing it almost as she would have should it be their hands connected.

"That four outside shall be assisting you with what I want your help with," Otto resumed the purpose of asking Marcus to join them for dinner "You're in charge of a heist," he spoke with some wicked amusement.

Marcus carefully withdrew his leg from Lina's "A heist?" He asked, "Of what?"

Lina could not believe this turn of fortune that the very men Otto hired to take the paintings was Eleven Squadron.

"All the paintings in the Moulin Rouge," Otto sat forward with his fingers tented "This Sunday, and you will bring them to me at Gare de l'est, by one in the morning, no later,"

Announcing the train station they would be departing from, Lina could feel a changing in the tides, that favour was starting to fall on their shores.

Lina looked up for just a second, Marcus was smiling.

"I will see you on Sunday," Marcus raised his glass, with a polite nod.


	72. Let Me Love You

The locomotive was steam-powered.

Grandiose, in its design both in and out the train, was more like a mobile hotel.

Counting the carriages before boarding, there were eight: six-passenger carts and two cargo carriers.

The main cart was set so that it was both a living space and a bar - it even came with a complimentary man dressed in a white tuxedo.

Offered a drink upon entering the carriage Lina politely declined and chose a seat instead by a window to smoke.

A clear head would be paramount for what was to come.

Should Marcus and her beloved raggedy crew succeed in their heist, there would come the more pressing issue.

Avoiding arrival in Germany.

Choosing to use the steam train over a faster model would mean their journey would take hours and lead them into the later part of the following evening.

Somehow, between Paris and the first stop of Stuttgart Lina would have to flee the train.

There was the most obvious choice of throwing open a door and flinging herself from the train with the hope that not every bone would break in the fall, but the idea was dubious at best.

There was Otto to contend with too.

Pleasingly the newest bane in Lina's life was occupied, deep in conversation with the Wehrmacht captain of which both stood over a map, plotting the train's planned journey.

"We will pass through Strasbourg, it would do well that we stop there for a few hours," the captain put forth his thoughts, striking the map at the spot he spoke of "There is going to be a splitting of the tracks and should we leave too soon, we will end up here," his finger flicked to another place.

Otto stood in apparent thought, stroking his chin before taking the hand from his waist and tapping another area on the map.

"We could avoid the delay by going through Lille," making the suggestion he did it with a short backwards step, rocking on his heel.

"Passing through Stuttgart is not a necessity but a mere convenience," Otto took back the hand from the map, placing it in a pocket. "I would rather get us back into Germany sooner, than later," he looked at the clock over the bartenders head, before glancing toward Lina.

Listening as Lina was, there was no obviousness with it, the position was mere pot luck that the window reflected what was happening behind.

Placing the cigarette between her lips, Lina looked down at the table when a glass clipped the wood.

"For you madam," the bartender smiled, a small twinkle in his eye.

Laying a hand over what looked to be whiskey, Lina noticed that he left his hand on the glass a little too long, like he was conflicted about giving it to Lina.

Spiking drinks many times Lina took the glass and sniffed it.

Reasons unknown to spike the drink Lina watched the bartender, paying him closer attention when the tray emptied its glasses into the hands of the few men within the carriage.

Lina stared hard at the bartender's profile, and his smile - Tinker.

Accustomed to seeing Tinker with fairer hair, the black wig and dyed brows changed his face, as did the beard.

Passing Lina as he returned to his spot, Tinker's small nod announced that her drink was safe.

Sipping it only, Lina resumed watching the reflection like it was a film but with colour.

"I will speak to the station master and see to it our course is refocused," the captain bowed his head, before cracking together his heels and saluting.

Opening the carriage door, the captain ducked a little and left.

Otto no longer occupied, he approached the table Lina was at, forcing her to move over when he sat beside her.

"You look troubled," Otto positioned himself in a way that was close to trapped Lina into the corner, one arm on the table the other curled around the back of her neck "What's wrong?"

There was a lot wrong and a lot Lina didn't know with her Squadron playing Fritz, and it created tension in Lina's shoulders.

"Nothing," it was not for Otto to know "I am just a little tired," woken two hours before after being kept awake the whole of the previous night with her worry, Lina was more than a little tired.

Otto laughed, facing away from a little as he did "Come with me," he took her hand, guiding her out of the seat, the drink in his hand forgotten on the table.

Trailing behind Otto and passing the bar Lina gave Tinker a short and stressed smile while he buffed a glass, a barely perceived shrug lifting his shoulders.

There was nothing Tinker could do beyond whatever it was that he tried.

Leaving the main cart they entered a narrow corridor, Otto forced into a slight stoop by the low ceiling he opened the second door they came to, pulling Lina forward, so she entered the compartment first.

There was a bed, too small for two people.

Hearing a thump, and a rapid dragging, Lina started to turn around but stopped when her back became warmer when Otto pressed against it, pulling aside her hair to kiss the back of her neck.

For the time being, Lina could not afford to create suspicion within Otto, but she melted into these kisses, reaching back with a hand to brush it through his dark hair.

One hand slipping up Lina's skirt the other popped open the buttons on Lina's blouse until Otto's hand could slip within and cup her breast, massaging the extra sensitive skin it beckoned a moan from Lina.

Curling forward a little when Otto stroked the point between her thighs tenderly, Lina stumbled towards the bed when he walked them to it.

Hands spread and clawing in the sheets Lina tried to twist her head a little when Otto pushed in with a small grunt, but it was stopped when he held the back of her neck, keeping her in place and head down.

For what it was worth, Lina did not dislike this element of Otto.

Pulled up from the bed when Otto withdrew unexpectedly, Lina didn't have a chance even to turn before Otto was behind, pulling her backwards to sit on top of him, but facing away.

Dressed - partly - unlike times before Lina was reminded of the time in the park with Elijah when her skirt became bunched around her thighs.

This time though, Lina was a lot freer to move as she wanted too.

Arms back to hold Otto's shoulders, Lina rested on them, rolling her hips over him heatedly, she didn't mind when his hand came back around and caressed between her thighs, the other on her breast.

Lina had only ever made love to one person like this before, and both Lina's mind and body welcomed the enticing, yet the haunting familiarity of it.

Keeping hold of all the small moans and heavy pants with a bite on her lip, Lina soon sat forward, her hands within Otto's as he supported her, knotting them together.

There was a whole different perspective this time; Otto was not so demanding but more so loving.

Bringing forward her hands when Otto sat up, pressed to Lina's back, something felt different, and it was both strange and pleasant all at once.

Otto's thrusts became rapid, and it forced Lina to arch back, her head on his shoulder, he kept her from looking at him by cupping under Lina's chin, kissing her neck.

Yet the motion was far from impatient, almost like he was worried it would end too soon.

Carefully, Otto picked Lina up before placing her down on the bed.

With both legs thrown over a shoulder, Otto knelt one of his on the bed, pushing up Lina's hips and allowing him to pick up in tempo.

Curling over one arm to keep from knocking her head on the wall, Lina watched Otto with some bafflement, he had never been like this before.

Light absent from the room and blind pulled down on the window, Lina looked closer at the man she believed for some time was Otto.

Bringing one leg over so they could fall from the man's shoulders; Lina pushed down his knee, pulling on the back of his neck to bring him down.

Forehead to forehead Lina stared hard at the familiar face of the man she was sleeping with, the whole time - until then - thinking it was Otto.

Lina knew that she should have been angry, violated even to be taken advantage of in such an underhanded way, but she chose not to.

So long spending her energy and body like it was nothing but a commodity, passed from man to man with no care or consideration, Lina decided to look from another perspective.

Lina took into account that this was the first time in four months - other than with Marcus - that she was treated as more than just something to sleep with.

This was something that would forever mar their future relations, but for this moment, Lina wanted to be wanted. Not just for the toss of a coin or to be possessed like an object.

Lina let him continue, no longer trying to hide who he was, they came together more fluidly, just as they had so many times before.

Changing positions again, Lina pulled him down to her, meeting with his near longing with matched desire.

There was no hurry within them as they reconnected, Lina let him take his time, and she revelled within it.

Concern over where Otto was or why he was not the man Lina was lying with pushed to the very back of her mind, she focused on the intimacy of the moment.

"When this is done-," Lina had to stop, her mouth open with a small moan, she dropped back on the pillow for just a second, her mind in a haze as her body gave over to the heat within her "- I'm going to punch you."

Lina meant the threat too, and he knew it, Lina could tell within the way his lips shifted on her neck, becoming a calm and collected smile.

"Just let me love you until that time comes."


	73. What Awaits in Lille

Marcus was unsure whether to call it good luck or severe misfortune that he had Eleven Squadron's assistance.

"Oh, I do love to live beside the sea!" Andy sang in a whisper, a blur in the dark "Oh, I do love to lie—?!"

"Can it." Peter hissed back "We aren't here for a singsong!"

Silently thanking Peter for his needed interjection, Marcus returned to focusing on the lock he was picking.

"A little more light if you could," asking for the lighter to be moved closer, Marcus leaned to the side when Elijah floated the lighter down.

Able to see where to guide the two metal instruments, Marcus felt the catches start to lift as he carefully wiggled them.

"Lock picking was not a trade I thought you had," Elijah kept to a whisper, the arm he pressed to the wall shifting downward.

Marcus was not inclined to speak with Elijah, but he saw no choice "I have many trades. Some are best kept to yourself."

Elijah was only just visible in the flame of the lighter "I imagine the man who could pretend to be someone he's not would," it came out scathingly, an insincere smile on his mouth.

Marcus glanced up "And you would know all about that, wouldn't you."

The lock clicked, and Marcus turned it until the door popped open.

"We're in."

Standing before Elijah had a chance to respond, Marcus led the way.

Entering through a door on the side that would let them avoid the dressing rooms and stage props, Marcus found the silence of the Moulin Rouge unsettling.

Far more accustomed to hearing the clamour of the music, dancing and shouting, there was not even an echo of a shoe to be heard - there was Eleven Squadron though.

Filtering by Marcus like he was not even there, each man moved like a ghost, splitting up until not even their rippling shadows could be seen.

"They're more efficient for this than you would like to believe and not for the reasons you think," Paul made up the rear, bringing in the canvas sacks that would be used to transport the paintings.

Marcus didn't need to imagine what Paul was speaking of, not when he knew personally well how silent and proficient these men could be.

Ending up tied to a chair on the parade ground at Manston was not done with a lack of finesse.

"We better get to work," Elijah mumbled, "Who is on watch?"

"Jackson," Marcus took a step off to the left, the men would cover the dance hall, Elijah, Paul and himself were to search the rooms and offices "Jock is in the van," he added, still wondering how the Scotsman managed to hide his accent as well as he did.

Marcus knew that Tinker was set up to keep an eye on things within the train and Lina.

Otto was a dangerous man to have around Lina as his temper was short and often deadly.

For the time being, it appeared that Lina kept Otto in a good temperament, and Marcus knew it was only due to what she was offering - a fact that made Marcus's chest tight.

The sooner these paintings were within the train and Eleven Squadron were in place, they would set tracks for Lille, and Lina would be heading back to England.

That part was something Marcus was not entirely at peace with yet, but it would mean that Lina could return to Elias.

Marcus would not be able to join them, but he would settle for knowing that they were reunited for the time being.

"Here," Paul spoke from Marcus's back, he had been walking lost in thought.

Facing the light over the painting Paul found, Marcus set the torch on the ground, lifting the picture off the wall.

Hung only by thick twine, it proved more straightforward than it was first thought that it was going to be to take them down.

"How many are there?" Paul asked, lowering the painting into a sack and tying it up.

When Otto approached Marcus for the task, he performed some reconnaissance to confirm what would be needed and how long it could take.

"There are twenty-five in the hall, four in the dressing rooms, and six here," Marcus reiterated what he could say without a doubt "I couldn't get into the rooms or the offices that were above the dancehall.

Elijah slid behind them "I will cover the rooms," he took a handful of the sacks "Take the offices once you're done here,"

Acting like he was the man in charge, Marcus merely glanced with right timing when Paul stuck up his middle finger to Elijah's back.

"I thought you were friends?" Marcus asked he had a handle on sarcasm thanks to his time with Lina.

Paul turned, a face that Marcus could not put into words upon him.

Choosing not to push the matter as they were pressed for time, they made quick work of taking down the six in the hall.

All there was left to search, were the offices.

Taking the steps with extra caution, Marcus paused when glass shattering echoed through the building - the entire place stiller than a grave.

"Winters, you left footed prick!" Peter was not shouting; it was just that quiet he could hear "Watch where you're going!"

Releasing the breath held in by their fear of discovery, Marcus didn't speak when Paul shook his head.

Carry on upwards, Marcus could only hope they completed their task without any problems.

Floor levelling out Marcus's torch flickered, the light dimming.

"I was wondering," Paul kept to a whisper "What will you do after she goes back?"

Hitting the torch to a palm to try and make it work, Marcus stopped when Paul asked what he would once Lina returned.

When Marcus added together the time they spent apart compared to how long they were together, the latter was longer.

Marcus would not say it to Paul or any other man, but he had his first taste of pining when they were forced apart the first time, the second Marcus ended up in a pathetic state of constant drinking.

This time, Marcus was sure that he would stay away from the drink, but for what he would do was not a matter of choice but a duty.

"I will carry on as I am," Marcus felt sure that once the victor was decided there would be a chance to join his soon to be wife and son, and that was all that he needed to carry onward.

Paul tested a door "Is that what you want, or are you just saying what you need to hear to convince yourself that you're ok with it?"

Marcus didn't know how to approach Paul's question.

Was it a matter of convincing himself?

"It is not what I want. I wish to stay with her," Marcus moved down the narrow hall "However our circumstances won't allow it just yet,"

Trying the only other door in the hall, Marcus was mildly surprised to find it locked.

No money was held on-site overnight. Marcus knew that there wasn't as he watched each night to check when the best time would be to enter.

An armed escort accompanied the manager with his takings every morning at one.

So why was this locked?

Torch between the teeth Marcus knelt, taking out the instruments to pick the lock again.

"If your circumstances changed, would you promise to look after her, and do no wrong by her?" Paul pressed Marcus.

Not sure how to take the rather emotively driven line of questioning Marcus couldn't speak due to the torch, but he nodded firmly.

Paul stepped up behind "Elias is here," it came out strongly "Haines wife died before we set off, and Lydia has her hands full with her younger brothers,"

Marcus stopped picking the lock, his body suddenly stiff.

"He is well, and in safe hands right now," Paul put Marcus's concern to bed.

Knowing that Elias was in France, Paris specifically Marcus jarred inexplicably, wanting to see his son coming as an impulsive urge.

"We chose Lille for a reason. You can cross over to Belgium, find a place to live while you see through your posting here," Paul clapped Marcus's shoulder "Just be sure not to make us regret doing this for you."

Again Marcus did not know what to say. Left in a state of genuine speechlessness by their act of kindness, Marcus looked over his shoulder at Paul.

"Don't thank us yet," Paul shook his head "Not until we reach Lille,"


	74. Nochmal von vorne anfangen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I thought I would throw some character factoids about Eleven Squadron down here too.
> 
> These guys are actually fully fleshed out characters for me & I am biased obviously, but I love them, so I want to share some little pieces about them.
> 
> Andy (26) & Peter (27) are addressed by first name rather than last because they’re brothers - they're the ones responsible for the kidnapped garden gnome and garden gate from when they came to stay at Lina's.
> 
> Tinker (22) is called Tinker because when the freshly forming Eleven Squadron met him, he was literally a tinker, always playing around with things.
> 
> Winters (29) is scared of spiders - Jackson (27) gets rid of them for him.
> 
> Jock (31) can dance, and is actually pretty good.
> 
> Haines (39) wanted to be a doctor - but decided to join the Air Force when he became friends with the reader's father.

Lina gave a kiss, and then a punch.

Inspecting the hand's knuckles, Lina threw the punch with some reddening and a tiny swelling amount.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, legs crossed and chin in hand, Lina watched with a sigh when Otto started to stir.

The question of how hard Otto was hit was answered within the time he was out cold.

Long enough that Lina was able to swap the safe whiskey with the spiked one.

After kneeling in the small space beside Otto before he was fully conscious, Lina returned to being the performer she adapted to for four months.

Holding Otto's arm when he sat up, one hand on the back of his head Lina dipped down to better see his face "Are you ok?"

Otto blinked, shaking off the residual confusion from the knock to his head, disorientated and movements floating and without coordination, he shunted back until he was sat against the carriage wall.

"What happened?" There was a sluggish slur to his mouth, but he composed the sentence well enough to be understood.

Lina blessedly held her wits and frowned, Otto spoke in German and not French.

Otto showed some aggravations but asked again with the translation, the heel of a hand kneading his forehead.

"I don't know, you just fell on me," Lina pointed to the door, the bed only showing the creases of where she sat moments ago.

"You let me in first, and then I don't know what happened," she made sure to show the scuffed hand, implying it occurred when Otto fell.

Head down a little it forced Otto to peer up at Lina "Has anyone come in here?"

Lina shook her head "No."

Crawling forward and coming between Otto's legs to take his face in both hands, Lina smiled meekly "Did you need someone to check you over?"

Otto lifted the hand from his forehead, dropping it on Lina's cheek, stroking it with the thumb.

"No." Otto refused the offer to be seen, possibly due to pride.

"I don't want anyone to know," he added a little more sternly, the intenseness in his eyes making them darker.

Lina switched on a smile, pecking the tip of his thumb when it reached across to her mouth.

Pretending to be complacent and besotted was losing its novelty.

Should the message passed over before Lina punched Haines hard enough that it knocked him off his feet, and cut his lip prove true; she would not have to stay within the act much longer.

Discovering that Haines, who Lina was sleeping with was a surprise, especially for how he went about it.

Their relationship ended when Haines' wife found them together, and Lina swore that she would not touch Haines again.

All that Lina knew was when it came to the bedroom, Haines taught it to her.

Lina discovered things for herself, but much of what she did was remembered from her time with Haines - even the need to have control.

Once Lina's confidence peeked, she carried it over to the bedroom, and Haines made no complaints.

After their affair met its forced end, Lina went on to explore what else there was to be found - all that came was the knowledge that a title and money attracted all the wrong men.

Should Lina have let herself think more deeply about it, it would have come to her many years earlier that Abbot Haines was her first love.

Nothing similar to what Lina felt for Marcus, but more so that Haines taught her how to love and what it meant to be loved.

Abbot did no wrong by Lina; there was not one thing, one day or shared memory where Haines was nothing but earnest with her.

It was how Lina deeply understood why Florence was so upset, heartbroken and angry, not with Abbot, but Lina.

Men like Haines were ever so rare that it was best never to let them go when they came around.

Abbot was just never Lina's to have, and so it was not a matter of letting him go, but giving him back to the woman who had loved him since she was just fifteen.

Which was why Lina found Haines' manner to share one last time both upsetting but not.

In a strange agreement with Marcus for the time being, Lina could have met with Haines in better circumstances, where there would be no need to hide who he was.

Returned to the present Lina slid over the floor when Otto dragged her closer, bringing Lina to settle against his chest.

"What time is it?" Turning his arm to show the watch, Lina's heart skipped a few beats when reading the time.

"Five to one," she answered, Marcus and her merry band of idiots should have either arrived or would be coming soon.

Otto grumbled, tapping Lina's arm to get her standing so that he could.

Helping Otto up Lina smiled when he stroked a hand down her hair, kissing her forehead.

"We have an appointment to make," Otto shook himself out, walking to the door and picking up the whiskey as he did, drinking it in one.

Behind Otto, the smile Lina wore was dark humoured, tongue skimming her lip as a laugh begged to come free.

Shaking it away when Otto called Lina to follow, a collection of voices put more of a skip in her step.

Returning to the main cart, Lina found Haines leaning on the bar, nursing the split in his lip, Tinker behind shaking his head in some casting of shame.

Careful when doing so, Lina peeked out from behind Otto to check that Marcus and the others were all safe and well.

Lina found all of them, except one, and satisfied that she returned to standing behind Otto.

It would take five hours to reach Lille on the Belgium border, then a further three to reach Calais.

There were only five hours to take control of the train, then three to make it safely to Calais.

They would wait two hours before making their move safely on the way and lower the risk of being foiled.

Marcus would take over as the person in charge and lead should they come across an unexpected step.

"Do you have them?" Otto asked, tossing the whiskey tumbler at Tinker without looking.

Taken by surprise Tinker only just managed to catch it.

Marcus was not within Lina's line of sight, but she watched the reflection when the men started stacking the paintings on a table.

"All fifty-six paintings were retrieved," Marcus confirmed, standing with his hands behind his back "We were met with no problems,"

Though Marcus said it Lina didn't believe it.

Andy and Winters shared a pair of shifty-looking smiles, and Lina just knew that something went on.

Otto nodded slow, holding his chin "Excellent."

The train was pulled, the whistle pronouncing the departure Lina lost her balance for a second but corrected it quickly.

Once more under Otto's focus Lina disliked that he was doing so with who was present.

Wanting whatever Tinker placed in the drink to kick in Lina watched Otto's pupils dilate, she held back from celebrating too soon.

Otto swayed, before falling, and as he did, Lina stepped aside.

Forced back when the Wehrmacht captain pushed Lina away, she fell back against Haines, who stepped her aside.

The crack of the pistol handle on the back of the captain's head was loud and efficient.

Tinker threw up the glass he previously caught exchanging it for the pistol he pulled from his tuxedo blazer.

Like dominoes set off, the men rounded up the soldiers who were not with them.

Plan in motion far sooner than expected, they kept from firing while still pulling out of the station.

"Nice and easy my little Krauts," Andy sung, tossing the cap of his borrowed uniform "I know those trigger fingers are itchy,"

The surrender was not immediate, but it came when those within the carriage realised they were heavily outnumbered.

Guns relaxed and allowing them to be taken; they stopped shy of raising their hands.

"Tie them up, and gag," Haines ordered, stepping up to take charge.

Ropes sprung from canvas sacks; the German soldiers were bound and gagged.

Lina already drawing all the curtains before they started. She faced the men, her men, as they forced the soldiers to sit on the floor at one end.

"Who's driving?" Lina wondered out loud, not much liking how the men all smiled - there was one missing.

Peter draped an arm around Lina's shoulder "I told them not to leave the sweaty sock in charge of his lump of metal," he stressed, wagging a finger to the rest "I want that known when we die!"

Jock was driving.

If anyone could pull it off, it would be Jock - but that meant there was a calamity waiting to happen.

Tempted to stamp on Otto's face when Peter dragged him past by the ankles while whistling, Lina was kept from doing so when Marcus gently cupped her elbow.

"We need to talk," Marcus said nothing more before walking towards the private cabins.

Fearing that Marcus was about to divulge whatever stupidity had Winters and Andy smiling like devils, Lina gave them both a quick look.

Their lips were sealed, and Lina couldn't grasp why the rest were starting to show the same secretive smiles - Paul included.

"Once we are further on the tracks take them down to the cargo, one at a time and go as threes," Haines continued to direct them, the bruising of the punch casting a shadow on his jaw.

Approaching Haines quietly, Lina stood on her toes' tips, grazing his cheek with a kiss.

"Thank you, Abbot," strange as it was to thank Haines, it was not for what happened not long ago, but for what he taught Lina.

Showing little, Haines stayed holding his waist "You should go speak with him," his head gestured to the corridor.

Staying only a second longer, Lina dropped Haines gaze; she needed to make the most of the time she would have with Marcus.

Leaving the Squadron to handle their captives, Lina found Marcus within the first room.

Like the second there was a bed, a double one.

Standing with his back to Lina and watching the scenery start to blur as the train picked up in speed, she closed the door, and it was like closing it on the segment of her life she would never revisit.

Breathing for what felt like the first time, Lina's steps were lighter as she walked to meet Marcus.

Marcus didn't turn, but he settled his hand over where Lina's crossed around his front, Lina's head pressed to his back.

They stayed in comfortable silence for a little while, until Marcus asked a question.

"Can you speak Dutch?"


	75. Questions

“Can I speak...?” Lost to the purpose behind the question Lina pulled away from Marcus, hands slipping to rest on his side “They speak French and German too. Though I can speak Dutch a little,”

Flemish was not a language Lina was confident in speaking, knowing enough to get by Lina relied on their multilingualism when she took a holiday to Belgium.

Marcus remained in place, watching Paris fade away to the barely perceivable scenic backdrop “Would you consider living there?”

Following the first question with another, Marcus dropped his head, standing side on to the window.

Apprehensive of why Marcus could be asking Lina perched on the edge of the bed “Well,” closing her hands to loose fists on her thighs a second to think was taken.

Would Lina consider living in Belgium?

The country was stunning, and Lina enjoyed the time spent there, so it was not a stretch of the imagination to think about living there.

“I would,” Lina’s mouth lifted at the corners, the smile a little wobbly “Why are you asking?”

Lille was to be their destination providing all went to plan, and it was on the border, but their goal was Calais - then England.

Stepping forward, Marcus dropped to rest on his haunches “Would you live there with me?”

Yet another question with no answer to any previous, Lina observed Marcus closely, there was something on his mind, the questions possibly to aid with some decision making.

“It’s occupied territory,” announcing the only flaw to the idea Lina touched Marcus’s face, trying to soothe the crease in his brow. “I would have to obtain false papers again,” laughing tautly about it, she curled her hand under Marcus’s chin.

Settling into Lina’s touch Marcus put a hand in his pocket “I have them already,” stating that the problem of papers was not an issue Marcus took out the slightly crumpled picture of the three of them “Elias’s too,”

Marcus placed the photo within Lina’s lap.

“I want this for us,” Marcus’s eyes were warm, dream-like as he looked at the picture “Permanently,” Marcus took Lina’s hand, touching the ring that was on her finger.

Heart in a short, exciting flutter, its beating died with the one flaw. “Elias is in England. I would need to get him, but I can’t guarantee that I can leave with him,” by Victoria’s lies Elias was an issue of Knud, a legitimate heir to the Danish throne.

Should Elias be discovered missing it would be a political mess, and, Lina could not just move to Belgium with him, not while it was under German occupation.

Marcus picked up Lina’s hand, kissing the back of it “Elias is here, on this very train,”

Lina’s lungs choked, a short scream coming.

Cupping her mouth, Lina blinked, eyes damp at the thought that she was only a carriage or few from her son.

“He is with Eric in the next carriage,” Marcus didn’t try and hide that he was excited by the news “They brought him with them after Haines wife passed away,”

Delivering the news of Florence’s death respectfully, it left a hollowed space in Lina’s chest.

Haines never said a word about it, and Lina could not think why he would not.

Starting to stand, Lina stopped when Marcus set his hands on her, keeping Lina in place to ask again if she would live with him in Belgium.

Figuring out why Marcus kept asking questions Lina was crying but laughing too.

“I will,” laying a kiss on Marcus’s hand where it was still entwined with Lina’s was sure that her heart would come out her chest for how much it swelled “This is all I have wanted for so long,”

To think that the family Lina wanted, the man she loved and their son were all within reach was more than a dream come true.

For all that Lina did wrong, she was sure she served her time with all that happened - this window of freedom was long deserved, for both Marcus and herself.

Bringing Lina up as Marcus stood too, they didn’t move for a time, merely standing and looking at one another.

They broke from the stupor when Marcus set his hand on Lina’s cheek, smiling softly when she pushed against the palm.

“Shall we?” Marcus asked, offering his hand.

Bleary-eyed almost, Lina didn’t speak and only nodded, voice trapped within the soft cries she let Marcus lead them out the room.

Clutching to Marcus’s hand, Lina tried to control her breath, wanting to be calm when holding Elias.

The walk was short, but the corridor felt like it would never end.

Aided over the gap between the carriages Lina hardly noticed the wind that whipped across her face in the short time they were outside - not when a gurgling laugh touched her ears.

Guiding Lina around Marcus let go of her hand when she reached both of them out.

Sitting in Eric’s arms was Elias, her baby.

Elias’s carbon copy eyes of Marcus lit up, before a cry started, his tiny fists grabbing at the air when Lina came closer.

Elias was bigger, heavier, and she missed it, missing four precious months.

Cupping the back of Elias’s head, she stared at him in awe, he was beautiful even while crying and needy for Lina’s warm embrace.

Many nights Lina wondered if Elias had forgotten her. Lost the memory that Lina was his mother.

Scared that her knees would crumble from how fiercely her body trembled Lina sank into Marcus’s chest when he placed an arm around her, keeping her upright.

Unable to take eyes from Elias, soft kisses were placed on his crown, and over Marcus’s hand when it replaced Lina’s to hold Elias’s head.

The picture they shared was something that Lina wanted to look back at one day and know that it was the start of their most challenging trial, but know that they made it through.

Looking up at Marcus, a soft crying laugh broke apart her lips when Marcus wiped a thumb beneath each eye, the little finger clenched in Elias’s small fist.

“Thank you,” Lina tilted into the kiss when Marcus reached down to meet with it.

With one arm around Lina and one hand being shaken about by Elias’s small iron grip, Marcus looked so at peace, calm and as if no worry in the world could take it away.

“I don’t wish to intrude on this nauseating reunion,” Eric drawled, waiting with only a dead-eyed stare and a sarcastic smile “But I believe now would be a good time to mention that I am ordained,”

Staring back at Eric when he made the sarcastic smile a genuine one, a rare sight to behold upon him, Lina turned to Marcus.

“What do you think?” Again with a question, Marcus’s smile was small but hopeful at that moment.

There were only two people who were not present, that could not be, that Lina would want to be there for the day she would marry the man she loved.

“It’s perfect,” Lina didn’t hide the glee when she spoke; there was nothing more than Lina could wish for than to be legally wedded to Marcus.


	76. Canal Walks

January arrived cold and with misery.

After six long weeks, Paul succumbed to the fever brought forth by the infection; the wound to his stomach, refusing to heal it had festered until his death.

Otto escaped them minutes before dawn that day in December, ensuring that his haunting presence would not be forgotten when he stabbed Paul.

Successful in crossing the border into Belgium under their aliases and stolen uniforms, they came to the impossible decision to leave Paul within a Belgian hospital.

Lina never failed to visit In every single day - Lina refused to let Paul die alone.

At 10:32 that evening, Lina held Paul's hand for the last time and wept for the fifth scar left on her heart.

Father, brother, husband, friend and lover.

Lina could not tell the men either of Paul's passing or let his family know.

Letters and telegrams closely monitored, Lina was left to shoulder the weight of the grief alone.

Walking the canal path towards home, Lina watched the black waters' ripple under the lamplight, losing time while standing in lonesome thoughts.

There was no regret overcoming to Belgium, but Lina yearned for England when the winter nights were long and often spent alone.

Leaving Elias in the care of the lady who lived in the house two doors down when visiting Paul meant the house would be empty - and Lina did not want to be alone.

With Marcus's posting waiting for transfer approval, their wedding day embittered by Paul being stabbed, Lina could only wish that their continued streak of bad luck would come to an end.

There was some small solace in that they would write to each other.

Keeping every letter in a shoebox under the bed, Lina was always in a peculiar state of happiness when reading them but sad that they could only speak through paper and ink.

Figuring out a way to live by asking Haines to wire the sum in Lina's bank to Marcus's in Germany, there were a few days spent sleeping in a hostel until the funds came through and she could purchase a home.

Living beside the canal, Lina dismissed the concept of employment. There would come a time when work would be the only thing to fill the void of boredom, but she would spend her days with Elias and make up for the lost time for the time being.

Belgium was in a similar dilemma to England with the German administration preying on the country's reliance on food imports.

Rationing was in place but stricter than it was back home, and the prices on the black market on top of the inflation level Belgium was forced into created a chance for those within the market to turn a handsome profit.

No place was not suffering in some way, and so Lina dismissed the thoughts of returning to France.

Desiring never to step foot in Paris again, Lina also knew that with Otto's whereabouts still unknown that being away from France was for the best.

Trying to shift to a lighter and more soft-hearted thought, Lina started to write up the next letter for Marcus mentally; it would only be short and sent only for the purpose that she could enclose the most recent picture of Elias.

Starting to crawl, Elias was proving to be quite the energetic boy; and fast.

Lina wanted Marcus to come home so that he could see how Elias was progressing.

Elias's first tooth broke through the gum on Lina's finger a mere week after Marcus returned to France.

Head shaking when a drop of water splashed on her face, Lina looked upwards, a second drop falling in an eye.

Trying to blink off the irritation Lina started walking, following the canal's path while rubbing the eye it left her blind on one side.

The chirp of a bird and beating of wings made Lina look for it, and not a moment too soon.

From the left - where for a second she could not see - a shadow took form, rushing toward Lina.

It was not obvious what their motive was.

Catching the outstretched arm by a wrist Lina rolled into their body, using the arm to pivot them around before throwing an elbow to their chest, sending them over the canal wall.

Sprayed by the canal's water when the person crashed through its surface Lina kept a safe distance from the edge, waiting for their thrashing to finish.

A second chirping and twittering from the other side of the canal Lina strained to see the bird, until it took flight, soaring up and around a lamppost - a bluebird?

A gasping breath from the water Lina turned to view the person; it was easy to tell when she hit their chest that it was a man.

Crouching down, resting on the haunches of her legs, Lina drummed her knee "Care to tell me why you're charging women like a bull at this time of night?"

The man coughed and sputtered before swimming in strong strokes for the canal wall, throwing their arms over, gripping the pavement.

"You speak German?!" The man exclaimed, hacking away into another cough.

Back becoming a little straighter Lina took a short time to consider a course of action.

Standing it was done with a swift kick to Klemens's face, knocking him back into the water.

Klemens was affiliated with Otto.

Taking a backwards step when Klemens failed to come back above the water, Lina turned from the canal, checking the vicinity closely.

There was no one on the pathway. There were lights in the houses' windows that lined the canal - no one was standing by them, or even a shadow of a person hiding from sight.

Refusing to stay and check whether Klemens was alive or not, Lina remained calm within her walk; rushing would only bring attention.

If Klemens was in Belgium, there was a strong chance that Otto could be too.


	77. The Unseen Visitor

Elias was determined to keep Lina on her toes.

Leaving the living room for only a second to retrieve the post, the little skip in Lina's chest seeing Marcus's handwriting on a letter became a panicked thumping when returning to the living room.

The blanket Elias was on was empty.

Close to throwing down the letters and turning the place upside down, Lina stopped when a soft and curious gurgle came from the dining room opposite.

Pushing the door open from its perfect Elias sized gap, Lina walked in, head down and searching around the legs of the table and chairs.

"Mummy would really appreciate if you didn't try and turn her grey just yet," chiding Elias a little when his blue eyes came out from under a chair Lina crouched down "Wait until your father is home and turn him grey instead,"

Elias laughed and clapped his hands, the timing causing Lina to sigh a gentle laugh.

Arriving in Belgium, much like France without a single friend Lina found the lack of two-way conversation a lonely experience.

Elias kept Lina's mind focused, as did running the house and keeping it clean, but the missing part was someone to talk with and share words with.

There was a slim opportunity to socialise due to either need to take Elias or ask the lady two doors down to babysit.

Keeping Elias' babysitting only to Lina's hospital visits and collecting the food rations, she never left to meet people.

Knowing as well that Klemens was there made Lina all the less inclined to leave.

The chance that seeing Klemens again too close to home was great since the morning after Lina kicked him back in the canal.

No news arose of a drowned Soldier, so Lina took it to believe that Klemens was alive.

Elias patted his tiny hands-on Lina's face, drawing her attention back to him.

There was the start of little yawning, and a look at the clock on the mantelpiece indicated it was time for a nap.

Taking Elias upstairs and his cot at the end of Lina's bed, she stayed leant over the edge stroking his hair while he settled.

Elias enjoyed his naps and rarely fussed much when it came time to put him down for one.

When waking Elias, the problem would be not allowing him to sleep too long so that he would sleep in the night he would become a little grumpy when woken before he wanted to be.

Laying her head on the arm resting on the cot railing, Lina stayed watching Elias as he shuffled about, making himself comfortable.

Ears keener since Elias's birth, able to pick up even the tiniest of sound Lina stood from the cot.

The house was two storeys with a small cellar beneath. A small courtyard at the back and a slither of space at the front before the pavement and canal started.

It was not a rickety building or one that creaked and groaned from its age.

So when Lina was sure that a door was opened from below, it put a chill down her spine.

Slipping off her shoes, Lina walked around to the dressing table, untacking the hand pistol from under it.

Loaded and only needing to be cocked, Lina did carefully, making as little sound before approaching the bedroom door closing it behind.

Hallway narrow and with only two other doors Lina could better hear the sound of someone walking about, the rattle of a drawer suggesting they were in the kitchen.

The kitchen was the first door on the left of the bottom step, Lina would need to be extra careful coming down them if the person creeping around was in there.

Sticking close to the wall but not too close that her clothes would hush across it, Lina considered for a second that it would be Marcus, but from his last letter, the transfer was approved but would not happen until the last week of February.

There was still another two weeks to wait.

Reaching the bottom step Lina checked the hall, the front door was closed, but without a closer inspection, there would be no telling if it was picked open.

With the kitchen just a step and turn from revealing who was inside, Lina listened to what they were doing.

Cupboards and draws opened, but it didn't seem as if they were searching for something more than it was curious inspection.

Cautiously Lina peeked around the doorframe, hugging the wall as she did.

They were crouched down behind the table, only the back of their head visible Lina found no sense of ease from seeing that they were wearing a military-style hat.

Creeping off the top step, Lina entered the kitchen after checking there was no one else.

They ducked down a little to look further in the cupboard, and Lina could see that they were broad-shouldered from her vantage point - they either did not know she was there or were pretending not to notice.

Coming around the table, Lina brought the handgun forward, her grip sure and steady.

"I would think carefully before doing that." The man spoke the second Lina pressed the muzzle to the nape of his neck.

Lina shook her head "I am actually in half a mind to do it."

Marcus turned a little "Not the welcome home surprise I was expecting,"

Lina didn't take the gun away, not straight away "You were going to get a surprise when you came home. I'm just now deciding which it should be,"

Angry a little for Marcus's creeping into their home Lina softened when he brushed the gun away and twisted on his feet.

Eye-level with Lina's stomach, Marcus looked at it closely, focusing on the small pronouncement.

Lina had known for some time but kept it out of the letters, not wanting to announce the news that she was expecting again until Marcus was home with her.

This time there was no concern over whose child it was, Lina fell pregnant in the week before Marcus had to return to Paris.

The letter that arrived from Marcus that morning was still unopened, and now that he was there, it made her wonder what was inside.

Marcus placed a hand over Lina's stomach, feeling the small curve that had taken shape, the bottom of it sitting comfortably in his palm.

Smiling a little when Marcus stretched forward, placing a kiss on her stomach before standing and giving her mouth one, Lina laughed a little when he asked she put down the gun.

Taking care when stretching around Marcus to place the gun on the kitchen side, Lina made sure that it was pointed away from them before bringing the hand to settle on Marcus's back.

“Welcome home, mein Ehemann,”


	78. Can You Feel It?

Since telling Marcus the news, Lina was pregnant again any available chance was taken for him to touch her stomach.

Noticing it after the first week, Marcus would do it Lina decided not to mention it to him.

Rather liking that Marcus was open but subtle about the fact he was happy that they would be expecting their second child in September, Lina was still not totally noticeable that she was expectant.

Somehow knowing that it was only Marcus and herself who knew made it feel like a little secret they shared.

After Marcus came home and Lina allowed him time to settle in, Klemens' issue was brought into conversation over dinner.

Nothing could immediately be done about it when Marcus mentioned that Klemens and Otto were in Belgium.

Part of the Schutzstaffel they held a great deal of sway over many things, Belgium's running included.

Marcus was transferred, but his duties to the Luftwaffe were still active, which meant that he could be away for days at a time.

Though Marcus would always return as soon as allowed, sometimes arriving in the early hours of the morning, Lina would wake with the surprise of going to sleep alone and rise with Marcus beside her.

"Oh!" Lina dropped the plate in the sink with a clatter, hands suspended for a second, waiting to know if it was what she thought that took her by surprise.

Seated at the table with Elias on his lap Marcus spoke to her in alarm "What's wrong?"

It came again, a soft rippling like a flutter in her stomach, and she laid a hand to it.

"I felt the baby move," Lina didn't turn, but stayed watching her stomach, at twenty weeks she was still petite "It took me by surprise,"

Not wanting to worry Marcus over the potential that something could be wrong, Lina came around the table picking up Marcus's hand, and she settled it on her stomach.

"Can you feel it?" Lina asked, unsure as Marcus's face did not change at all to the contact.

Starting to feel a little disappointed, Lina studied Marcus closely when his eyes dilated.

Marcus was almost transfixed until Elias slapped his cheek, disliking his attention being stolen already.

One eye closed up when Elias made a second slapping, Marcus leant away from it but did not take his hand from Lina's stomach.

"Eli, no," Marcus peered at Elias sharply, but there was a fight to keep it up when Elias smiled back, successful in gaining his father's attention again, Elias made every effort to keep it "Da...da...da,"

Lina turned a little, watching as Elias's mouth formed the small two letters, becoming a little more confident with each one.

While speaking with Marcus, they would somehow fall into an odd mannerism.

Lina would speak in English and Marcus in German.

Their ability to understand one another regardless of the translation differences felt natural and easy to converse as they would.

Only when outside would Lina speak with Marcus in German, and insult him in French.

Elise's speech fell away into a laugh and clapping of hands when Marcus's face became less controlled and relaxed entirely.

"I shouldn't be mad," Lina sighed "But I am."

Hearing Elias's first words were both fantastic but disappointing that they were Dada and not Mama.

"He will say it for you soon," Marcus assured, the hand still on Lina's stomach, the thumb rubbing it gently "I can feel it," he confirmed softly.

Looking at Marcus even though he was trying to encourage Elias to call him Dada again, Lina curled over to place a kiss on Marcus's cheek, before setting one on Elias's too.

Full of smiles and giggles Lina stepped when Marcus adjusted on the chair, making space for her to sit on his lap.

With Elias in one arm and Lina in the other, Marcus kept them both close "Do you think it will be another boy?" Marcus asked, the arm around Lina coming forward a little more she moved her hand to meet with his.

There were myths and old wives tales that supposedly could tell whether a child would be a boy or a girl, but there was no certainty until birth.

"I don't know," Lina ran a hand down her stomach, it came out a fraction more when she sat down "I would be happy with either,"

As long as the baby was born healthy and safe, Lina did not mind whether it would be another son or a daughter.

Marcus showed that he might have set his heart on one or the other.

"I would like for it to be another boy," Marcus admitted, there seemed to be something more behind the cause for his saying so "Though I would be happy if I had a daughter, I would rather another son,"

Marcus bobbed the leg that Elias was sitting on a little, making him smile and gurgle.

Curious to know what the reason behind Marcus's preference for another son was, Lina took a hand and stroked it through Marcus's hair, he always set it the same.

"You looked like the idea of a girl would be the worst outcome from this," Lina kept it from sounding accusing, but it did come across as such.

Marcus's leg stopped, and he looked at Lina with a flash of irritation, but it died within his sigh.

"As of right now, it feels like it would be," not trying to hide any more than Marcus disliked the idea of a girl for their second child, he carried on before Lina could speak up "After watching what you have been put through, I would rather not have to see my own daughter face the same."

Sure that if it were not for Marcus's arm around her back that Lina would have fallen off his lap by how rapidly she reeled back, Lina tried to fathom Marcus's reasoning.

"You're headstrong and wilful, but, you still were made to do things you did not want to do because you're a woman," Marcus better explained his point "Should you have been born a man, your life would be different."

Lina could see Marcus's point of view, and with some more insight, she understood where he was coming from, only a little.

"That was only because of who I was born as, not that I am a woman," Lina countered, lifting a hand to stop Marcus from making a further argument "I may not have liked the things I have done, but I wasn't forced to do it,"

Marrying Knud was the only one that was a forced situation, and Lina did it for Marcus's sake.

Should Lina have run from that obligation, she would have been left with nothing, and Marcus was dependent - whether he liked to admit it or not - on Lina in those six months.

Even the Moulin Rouge was a choice, Lina could have refused the mission and let Haines send a man in place of her.

"I understand your point, but the likelihood of any of what I have lived through happening to our daughter is impossible," Lina's second-born would not be granted any title due to being born from a marriage that was not approved by the Mountbatten house.

There would be no obligation to marry, and Lina strongly doubted that they would end up in the likes of the Moulin Rouge.

Marcus's brow furrowed deep, the soft pinch to his mouth, showing that he was not entirely satisfied or convinced.

Men's cruel intentions scarred Lina, but she refused to allow the same to happen to any child of hers, whether they were a girl or not.

"I was speaking more so of your frivolous behaviour due to the way men can be," Marcus corrected Lina, bringing up her own admittance that she was only used and rarely loved.

Chest twisting painfully to be reminded of that chapter in Lina's life, she stood up.

"Well, women can be much the same with men, so it makes no difference," Lina stated, a slight snap in her step when returning to the sink "But let's hope it's a boy as emotionally dysfunctional as you."

Wound up from the switch in the talk, Lina became further frustrated when she started to cry.

This was the only part of pregnancy - other than morning sickness - that Lina hated; the fickle emotions.

Lina kept wiping under each eye, slamming the last plate onto the draining board, and only due to the knock on the front door.

It was not polite but a ferocious pounding.

Facing Marcus there looked to be the same concern shared as he passed Elias over for Lina to hold.

"Marcus?" Worrisome for what purpose someone could be knocking and not with urgency but demand, Lina took Elias from Marcus.

Marcus's gaze was fierce, and he held Lina's face, kissing her once before placing one on Elias's head.

Close behind Marcus when he went to answer the door, it was his hand coming out and telling her to stay back that left her standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

With a lingering glance, Marcus soon turned and opened the door, and her heart vaulted into her throat.

"Arrest him." The single order was made without charge, and Otto's sly smile was positively victorious as he said it.

Entering their home, their uniforms were different from the Heer, the insignia much colder and crueller, they took Marcus by the arm and walked him down the front steps.

Gone before Marcus could even say a word, Lina's throat swelled to the point she could not even breathe.

Left alone and trying to settle Elias when he cried out, flinging himself forward for Marcus there was no time allowed for Lina even to become upset when a hand combed through her hair.

Should Lina not have been holding Elias and pregnant too, there was no second of doubt that she would have broken Otto's fingers for merely touching her.

"Have you missed me?" Otto asked in a husk, bending down to place a kiss on Lina, the attempt to pull away from it forcefully stopped when his fingers twisted in her hair.

Far too close Lina didn't smile when Elias hit Otto's face, trying to contain his temper tantrum hard to do when she could not move.

Showing disdain for Elias the flick of Otto's hand made Lina move to block it from touching Elias, even when it meant the hold on her hair became painfully tighter.

Trying to shield Elias in any way that Lina could, there was the most alarming glint in Otto's eyes, like he thought of something, and it wasn't kind in origin.

Otto let Lina's hair go, the crack of his fingers calling forward another soldier dressed in the same uniform as those who took Marcus away.

"Take the baby," Otto ordered. "She refuses. Shoot it."

Switching back to speaking in German, the man at Otto's side flinched at the order given "Sir?" He looked at Elias and said, "I can't do that." Point blank refusing, the soldier flicked his eyes to Otto when he closed a hand on the back of his neck.

Whispering something into the soldier's ear, the man's eyes flew wide, and he swallowed harshly.

Breaking from Otto's grasp the soldier put out his hands, a look of pure pleading on him "Please," he whispered "Let me take him,"

Lina's chest was heaving, she felt sick, there was no way she could let them take Elias, but with the threat looming Lina's hands felt like they were bound so tight, they would never recover.

There was nothing for it but to plead her case to Otto. To offer anything that would keep Elias out of his hands.

"Whatever it is you want. You can have as long as I keep my son." Lina knew what the offer could entail, but nothing would ever be too much a cost, not for Elias.

Otto feigned that he was considering the offer, stroking his beard like in thought. "I think we can come to some agreement," he dropped the hand, looking at it like it was something of great interest. "Providing you give me what I want, when I want it, your bastard will be safe,"

Laying down the terms Lina could feel the acidic bile creeping up her throat, but she nodded.

Otto's smile was cruelty personified, twisted and somehow managing to be depraved.

Lina would have no allies this time, Marcus was not in a good situation, and there was no one from Eleven Squadron or even Eric to aid her - everything would have to be done by herself.

Which included trying for as long as possible to delay Otto, knowing that Lina was carrying Marcus's child.


	79. Game. Set. Match.

From the second the arrangement was agreed did Otto take what was promised.

Elias removed from Lina’s arms Otto made Lina turn around, forcing her to the wall, arms spread out to hold herself.

The Soldier took Elias from the hall before it started.

Each thrust was like a stab wound; every exhale burned.

Blanking out that Otto was responsible for the unwanted and forcibly coaxed reaction of Lina’s body, she kept her eyes closed when he turned her around.

Brought up the wall, legs forced to wrap around Otto’s waist Lina did not respond when he tried to kiss her like he used too.

Remaining stiff and withholding any show that her body was committing the ultimate betrayal by the forced stimulation, Lina felt the first tear slip when Otto whispered into her ear, telling her to stop pretending that she was not enjoying this.

Speaking to Lina in French it created a short second of confusion.

Did Otto not know?

Thinking for sure that Klemens would have told Otto that Lina could speak his native tongue, she considered its implications.

When Otto broke free of his planned execution, Lina was hiding in a cabin with Elias. The men who knew how Lina betrayed them were dead before Otto came back around from the drink Tinker spiked.

Did Otto still believe Lina to be Ismay, the French can-can dancer and prostitute?

Lina’s eyes opened when Otto panted the name she gave him all those weeks before into her ear.

The surprise let a once carefully refrained moan from Lina’s lips - and she hated how Otto enjoyed it.

Seizing the chance with Lina’s lips parted, Otto kissed her again, his tongue entering when the wall she built of it crumbled.

Knowing that Otto was insatiable, there was no relief when he pulled out and spilt himself upon her thigh.

Hands clawed to Lina’s rear Otto patted it “That’s my girl,” he spoke with a twisted smirking, before setting Lina down, strangely gentle as he did so.

Sick and wanting to be so, Lina shuddered when the heat Otto left on her thigh started to cool, dripping down her skin she wiped it away with a strangled cry.

Denied any form of dignity for the act that Lina ashamedly allowed Otto to perform with it being watched by the Soldier still standing in her hall, her skin was ablaze.

Humiliated, degraded, and violated in one single hit, Lina regained composure and denied Otto any show of it.

Wiping the sullied hand down Otto’s front to remove it from her skin, Lina was prepared for the slap before it came.

It made Lina’s ears ring, but she didn’t stumble or close her eyes to the impact.

Not even when Otto squeezed Lina’s throat with his hand did Lina blink.

Otto’s chest heaved, the blazing coals of his eyes as strained as the clench of his jaw.

“What an impertinent little whore you are,” Otto crooned, sneering as he did “Should I remind you what your behaviour could cost you?”

Otto’s second threat to Elias sparked something; Aunt Victoria.

The expulsion of Otto’s breath when Lina drove her fist into his solar plexus was sweet music to her ears.

“Ich bin das Oberhaupt des Hauses Battenberg, Prinzessin von Griechenland und Dänemark, Lina Mountbatten. Mutter des Erben von Dänemark, und mein Name ist nicht Ismay, Ich bin keine Hure, und du wirst in meiner Gegenwart das Knie beugen.”

The lessons in dictation and speech coming once more to practice, Lina spoke with conviction and compelling.

Revealing Lina’s true identity was a gamble, but there was much that could play in her favour provided she played her next hand correctly.

Otto was doubled over in a wheeze, the echo of pain from the punch fizzled out to a look of incredulity.

Lina would have to betray Elevon Squadron, England too and the mere concept of it left her sick down to the deepest part of her body; but she couldn’t stay in Otto’s grasp.

“Ich schlage vor, Sie senden eine Nachricht an General Alexander von Falkenhausen, mit dem ich sprechen möchte.”

Directing the order, not to Otto but the man who stood and watched, a smile lifted the edges of Lina’s mouth when he saluted her and left.

It would become a brilliant favour should Lina be able to convince the man to speak of Otto’s blackmailing to gain bodily favours from Lina, and she could be persuasive in many ways.

Facing Otto when he stood up, Lina lowered herself for a moment and spat in his face.

“I wonder if you would prefer a noose or a gun?” Lina asked with a soft tilt of her head, a capricious smile taking hold of her mouth.

The marching of feet coming up the steps, Lina did not look away from Otto when he tried to retake hold of her throat.

“Halt!” It was not shouted, more of a lazy drawl.

Lina looked over to the speaker, not because of the order made but the nostalgia induced by the voice.

“Well, well your highness,” Danny flicked off the hat, shaking a hand through his hair “Long time no see,” he smiled, it was vicious as always, but to Lina it was warm.

“Punch him.” Lina pointed to Otto, making it sound like an order, though it was more a request “I can’t reach his face.”

Danny chuckled wickedly as he strolled forward “Demanding as always,” he spoke as he swung, Otto’s nose popping and crunching when it landed.

Knowing that composure everything as of the moment she declared intention to betray England Lina watched Danny, the not so friendly face she never expected to see, there was a second where she would have hugged him; and he picked up on it.

“Let’s not be doing that,” Danny ticked a finger back and forth with an accompanying shake of the head.

Lina scoffed “I wouldn’t touch you with a barge pole.”

Danny dropped his hand, stretching out his neck, stroking it “You like touching me quite a bit if I recall,” there was almost a flirtation to his remark.

Lina stretched out her hands “I need a stress relief,” she stated “And strangling you helps me quite a bit,”

Danny barked a laugh “I love it when you’re feisty!” He winked, dodging backwards.

Lina shook her head, folding her arms and holding each elbow, turning when Otto spat the blood spilling into his mouth from his nose at her.

Inspecting the spray that smattered her clothes Lina turned a sharp and narrow stare on Otto.

Wanting to take the gun from Danny’s belt and be done with it, Lina knew it would be much higher satisfaction to see him squirm under the accusation she was about to make against him.

Collaboration with the enemy of Germany would be a guaranteed death for Otto, which Danny and Marcus - unknowingly - was going to help her sell to General Von Falkenhausen once she met with him.

Being rid of Otto, there was also a plan to dispose of Victoria from her favour with Germany, and she knew exactly how to do it.

“Do you know where Eric is?” Lina inquired with Danny.

Danny showed deep interest, his smile growing “I do,” he confirmed.

“Good,” Lina nodded while facing the door and the arrival of six men dressed similarly to Danny “I need a favour of him,”

Danny did not speak, but there was a silent understanding between them. Trusting that Eric would play his part should the need arise, Lina left with the men ordered to take her as requested to General Von Falkenhausen.

Entrusting Otto to Danny the walk to the men was made with confidence and prominence.

Taking the steps, Lina could see a waiting car, and Elias safely in the arms of the Soldier who spared him being witness to what happened between Otto and herself.

Thanking the man when Elias was placed once more safe within her arms, Lina ducked into the car, the biggest lie of her life mentally prepared and ready to be told.


	80. Web Weaver

Standing before General Von Falkenhausen, the lies were well underway by the time Marcus was brought into the room.

"Tell me would I knowingly harbour an Oberstleutnant of the Luftwaffe, tamper with the plane of my own father and shoot dead my brother if I had pledged fealty to England?"

Posing the question Lina looked to Marcus with a disinterested acknowledgement.

Marcus was arrested only a few hours ago, and they had wasted no time, he could barely stand unaided.

"My aunt Victoria tried to have him shot along with Eric Scheer when she realised they had found the source of the information she was leaking to the war cabinet,"

Using Victoria's betrayal to England to sell her out as a double agent to Germany, Lina was under conflict for using Vilem and their father's deaths to seal her status as a traitor to the crown.

"The Bluebirds were ever so kindly named after me, and she sold them down the river when she discovered her efforts to cover her tracks failed,"

Mentioning Haines arrest of Fourteen Squadron shortly after Marcus and Eric joined Eleven Squadron, their order to kill Lina now came back as a fortuitous piece of information.

"She warned Group Commander Haines of the order she made to them to keep one out of the air. Wanting to keep up the pretence that she was loyal to Germany's cause but have me alive to maintain the face of our house, and secure a claim to Denmark's throne, by my marriage to the Crown Prince Knud,"

Maintaining an air of nonchalance but also transparency Lina turned to the bloody nosed Otto.

"Otto Von Trapp hired the entire of Eleven Squadron to lift the intelligence left by one informant with crucial details of Germany's plans, and murdered the men who could implicate him,"

Here Lina was about to deliver the most damning lie to further the story she was telling.

"I secured the papers and managed to enrol Oberstleutnant Buckler and Kapitän Scheer into the Royal Air Force and to my Squadron after their failed assassination attempt. Part of the very same team Otto Von Trapp hired to take the delicate information."

Lina cocked her head a little as though troubled.

"Funny how he left them both alive when he stands here accusing them of treachery,"

Lina started to walk towards Otto, the audience in the room remaining silent and enthralled, hanging on her every word.

"We are in May, a full five months have passed, and he did not attempt to have either arrested. Which should he not be a turncoat he would have done so as soon as he was back within reach of those who could action the arrest when Buckler returned to Paris, and Scheer to Brussels, but he didn't,"

Lina held up a single finger when one man made to speak - why had Lina not acted?

"I know the question my point has brought to your tongues gentleman." She held out her hands "Why did they not bring it to the attention of anyone?"

Lina caught Eric's eye as she prepared to seal the lie and stamp it with her seal for approval.

"I sent Buckler back to Paris, and Scheer to Brussels for one purpose, to find Otto and secure his location before we acted for risk of moving blind," Lina smiled at Otto when his face contorted with rage.

"There was a blunder in the disposing of the soldiers they took prisoner, which allowed us three to get away, but it left us unsure whether Otto was alive or even still within Germany's territory."

Lina kept eye contact with the very men she was trying to convince, and some looked to be sold already by her story weaving.

"I pressed the one man who was left behind and grievously wounded for six weeks for a location Otto could be hiding, but he proved to be loyal to England until his dying breath,"

Using Paul's demise in such a way speared Lina's heart, but it was necessary.

"We were forced to wait, and due to my coming to Belgium under a false name I lost contact with Scheer with the trouble I had of finding a secure place, and so was unaware that Otto had been located until he came directly to my door."

Lina pointed to each man, Marcus and Eric.

"Scheer was sent to discover the status of Buckler, and in turn helped with the uncovering of Victoria's deceit and revealed to us that a Captain Michaelis Jones was hired by Group Captain Abbot Haines, through Victoria's request to watch us,"

Setting a hand on a hip Lina stood poised chin up, selling herself with unshakable confidence.

"Which hindered our ability to proceed with returning the information we gathered before the assassination attempts,"

Knowing that Danny was standing at the back of the room, Lina held back a smile.

"Danner Roberts was charged with the order to kill these men, and he made sure to bring them close to death to let Victoria believe that those who could expose her were dealt with."

Lina couldn't see Danny, but she could imagine his disgust at her using his full name - he hated being called Kenneth.

"She was unaware at the time that I was well informed of what was happening, and so told me who they were and that they were dead due to their threat to England,"

Purposely scattering the details out of chronological order was not to confuse, but to lessen the suspicion that Lina thought too carefully about presenting her evidence.

Should it have come out entirely structured, there would be a chance that they would see a reason to doubt.

It too meant that when it came to questioning any point, especially an earlier part, the fact she would not stumble when answering would aid in continuing to sell her lies.

To be a good liar, a good memory was needed.

General Von Falkenhausen lifted a finger; his face was calm, unmoved from the second he told Lina to speak.

"Your purpose for going to Paris was under the order to obtain this information," he stated the part Lina detailed before Marcus was walked into the room "Why did you not relay sooner that it had been found to avoid it being taken?"

Lina stepped forward, ready to answer the question.

"I spent three months in the role of a prostitute searching for this information when I met Otto. I was for a time certain of his loyalty but could not risk my exposure should it prove untrue," Lina watched the flicker of commotion at her mentioning the work she undertook while in France.

"His hiring of Eleven Squadron who had arrived a week after Otto confirming the paintings of the Moulin Rouge was the intelligence, proved that I could not trust him, but it was a mere fortune for myself that he asked Buckler to oversee the taking of them,"

Otto's obsessive need to have total control of Lina now too proved fruitful.

"I was paid to be Otto Von Trapp's courtesan, but he proved to be a jealous man and kept me from moving freely. I was incapable of reaching Buckler or Scheer to put in place a plan of action to keep hold of the paintings,"

Holding her arms behind her back, Lina grabbed the wrist of one.

"We were outnumbered, and Eleven Squadron had brought my son onto the train forcing my hand to admit my efforts to hinder them,"

Lina knew that the Squadron would never harm Elias, and she felt rotten to accuse them of such a crime.

"With Victoria's discovering that I helped Buckler with full knowledge of who he was coming after I departed, she acted in a way that it is now impossible for my return to England. I declared myself a traitor in front of eighteen well trusted and highly thought of men,"

And here was the penultimate of Lina's tall tale.

"I have a death sentence waiting should I try and return, and one here should you deem that I am a liar and a threat,"

Lina stood before the audience summoned, looking to each man.

"I am at your mercy."


	81. Winters Spring

Making the declaration to the man governing Belgium that Lina was the head of the British detachment of Germany's house of Battenberg while exposing Marcus, Eric and Danny as co-conspirators were her most dangerous game to date.

Risking not only them but Elias and Lina's unborn child too, the wait for the verdict and confirmation of Lina's identity was agonising.

Lina could well be dead in a few short hours.

Left to stew in a cell in the basement of the building Lina came to make her case within, she was alone for what started to feel like days before a guard came to unlock the cell.

The barred door swung open, and the man stood tall, saluting Lina.

Brow crooked by the action Lina tested a step, before walking with more confidence out of the cell.

"General Von Falkenhausen has ordered your release," the man informed smartly "He has requested your presence in the courtyard,"

Hearing that Lina's release was ordered was not cause for a breath. Not yet.

Letting the guard take the lead up the worn stone steps Lina controlled her breathing as they walked.

Coming back above ground and returning to walking the same hall Lina was led down when ordered to be locked in the cell, Lina never imagined seeing the sky through the windows would be cause for happiness.

Coming to terms in the hours passed with the fact that she could have signed her life away, Lina at least held one last chance to see the skies, and they were a brilliant and vibrant blue, not a single cloud.

Turning through the double doors into the courtyard, Lina stopped on the top step.

A row of men lined up many who Lina did not know, and one who watched her arrival with complacency.

Stepping out from behind the balcony wall that oversaw the courtyard, General Von Falkenhausen exuded utter confidence of his planning while loading a Luger.

"We captured a man on the border of Lille who was impersonating a Captain of the Heer," The General hummed as if he was not particularly interested in the conversation. "One Abbott Haines," he stared the name of the man with a sharp eye on Lina when she shook her head.

This was a test of Lina's loyalty, and she could feel herself being ripped open and ravaged by her guilt.

"That is not Abbot Haines," Lina forced an injection of cold, calculated surety into her vocals "That is Daniel Winters."

Tied to a post and face hardly recognisable from the bruising and swelling, Winters looked resigned to his fate.

Handing out the Luger, there was no need for General Von Falkenhausen to spew what he expected, and Lina took the gun without question.

Never made aware of Winters capture all Lina could think was that she was freeing him of the torture he endured so long.

Five months were spent in capture, and his thinned body was beaten, the limp hanging off his right shoulder showing it was dislocated and never placed back.

Arriving at the bottom of the steps, Lina did not stop in her walk when Marcus - supported by Eric - and Danny were waiting out of immediate sight from the balcony and faced a firing squad.

Above from the balconies stood rows of soldiers, all of them watching Lina's determined walking.

Every step that drew Lina closer to Winters, her heart's scarring became deeper, gouging at the delicate muscle.

This was a turn that Lina never prepared for and meeting Winters one open grey eye almost choked her, because he smiled.

There was nothing within Winters that suggested he was angry with Lina and it made aligning the Luger that much harder.

Refusing to close her eyes, to hide in the shame that snaked around Lina's throat like a noose, she didn't breathe when her finger squeezed the trigger.

Arm locked in the firing position Lina watched Winters's head knockback on the post before it fell to his chest.

Smiling right until his end, was just Winters all over.

In Lina's head, she was screaming, tearing herself apart inch by rotten, filthy, inch.

Outwardly Lina presented a calm front.

There was no promise that she would not meet the same end when Lina turned around as she subjected Winters, but this was her gamble cost.

Recalling the note handed to Lina over a year ago, she flicked up the gun as she brought her arm back against her side.

It is not the truth that matters, but victory.

As Lina started to turn around, she stopped when a flutter in the corner of her eye took her focus.

A bluebird took up perch on the post above Winters's head.

Transfixed, Lina's heart palpated when the bluebird let out a beautiful twittering like it was singing just for her.

Chest feeling like it was concave, crushed under the weight of what she had done, Lina feared breaking down would be the undoing of her - so Lina turned around.

Met by General Von Falkenhausen, there were no words, but he clapped slowly.

"Brava!" He shouted, "I have never witnessed such cold cruelty in any execution as that moment then."

Lina smiled, maintaining a false front before tossing back the gun. The General caught it clumsily, and it created a short spurt of laughter from the balconies above.

"Then you have known only sheep, and never seen a wolf," Lina retorted, watching the man's smile grow sinister.

Standing and awaiting the final verdict, Lina refused to cast shame on Winters sacrifice by showing any weakness.

General Von Falkenhausen ticked a finger "How interesting that you declare yourself a wolf," he stopped, head turning a little "Why is that?"

Lina dropped all expression from her visage "Because what I lack in power I make up for in intellect."

Their eyes locked, and for a time, the General looked wary while looking upon Lina.

"Intellect. You killed a man who was once your comrade; there was no intellect within that," the General announced with a booming laugh.

The Soldiers above started laughing too.

"If you could not recognise a man who wanted to die then you should not be standing before me with the title of General," Lina let her voice echo and fill the void of their peals of laughter sudden retraction. "You allowed me to give him what he wanted, that's why I called myself a wolf, an Alpha knows what's best for its pack and never fails to execute it no matter how hard a choice it may be."

The General scowled fiercely but recovered swiftly.

"You declare that man a part of your pack. Are you saying that you're in truth loyal to England?" The General was trying to save face while creating a stir and cast doubt.

Lina did not crumble; her choice was made the second the gun was taken from the General's hand "You're looking in the wrong direction," she raised a hand, pointing to the three men waiting to know if they were to die or be let free "My pack is over there. I chose my loyalty a long time ago, and I did so without regret, no matter if it forced me to kill a man who was once a dear friend."

Winters death would be forever scorched on Lina's soul, a mark that would never be washed from her skin - but Lina had too spared him further pain, even if it brought her agony.

The General did not speak again, but he clicked his fingers.

The firing squad snapped up their rifles, falling into line before turning sharply on their heels and marching until they were in position.

One executioner for every man tied to a post except the one Lina stood mere feet in front of - they lined up their shots, and fired.

"Understand I needed to be sure," The General spoke with an odd softness "Your aid to the Fuhrer and the Reich will not go unrewarded," he stated taking out a thick envelope from an inside pocket.

Handing it over like a sealed declaration of Lina's treachery, it was taken from his hand with a polite nod.

Lina didn't want a reward; she wanted to scream at these men who were cause and reason for so many unnecessary deaths.


	82. Living Ghosts

Lina felt detached from both her mind and body. An essence of fragile existence without purpose.

After executing Winters and being trialled further Lina was handed a letter requesting her presence in Battenberg, Hesse.

Which meant a return to Germany.

There was no falsity in the claim when promised reward as Lina was about to be placed at Battenberg's head, securing it as a non-ruling head of state.

Remarkably the level of reward for a government that sought to be under one leader, Lina was merely a figurehead, a puppet to Adolf to further his ties with prominent figures within Europe.

Lina was well versed, well networked and well known amongst Europe's aristocracy. She imagined that to have the Princess of Greece and Denmark, and mother to a recognised heir to Denmark's throne on Germany's side would be beneficial.

There would be no chance of returning to England now, not with what Lina did to spare Marcus and Elias's lives, and herself becoming a sexual object of Otto once again.

It came with a high price that went beyond executing Winters as a day after Lina woke to heavy bleeding, a few hours later confirmations that she lost the baby.

Guessing it was karma once more paying Lina back, it left her in a state of perpetual numbness.

Choosing to be alone, Lina separated from the carriage holding her entourage of Gestapo soldiers, and she came to sit in a private cabin.

Left bruised and bloodied from the arrest that acted as the catalyst for all that came after, Marcus was bedridden for a week before he could move unaided.

They broke a few of Marcus's ribs, and it was those that kept his walk slow and more of a shuffling.

It was how Lina knew it to be Marcus who opened the cabin door beyond the panting wheezes that were his breathing.

Looking up only when Marcus lowered into the seat opposite Lina met his gaze blankly.

Lina did not regret the choice made with her weeping heart over her head, but she found it difficult to look at Marcus for more than a few seconds at a time.

Ashamed possibly for losing their baby, Lina hated that Marcus only tried to comfort her even with his current poor health.

Why was no one ever angry with the choices Lina made, beside herself?

Miscarrying was not a choice, but it should have roused a more visceral reaction from Marcus.

"You need to stop blaming yourself; it was not in your control." Marcus's patience finally looked to have departed, and it caused Lina to smile.

"I keep getting these dreams where I am holding a newborn baby," Lina let her eyes drift out of focus "I never know if it is a boy or a girl, but I put them down, and they start crying," the cries would continue for at least a minute once she woke "But I can never pick them up. I just stand there and watch them kick and reach for me, but I can never pick them back up."

The first night Lina had the dream was the same night she lost the baby, and she woke in a scream in the hospital bed.

Lina recalled no moment or time crying as freely as she had after that dream; it wasn't cathartic.

Marcus could barely move without being in immense discomfort, but he reached for Lina's hand, holding it as tight as his bruised and swollen fingers would let him.

"I don't know what I can say to make this any better," Marcus tempered his emotions well, far better than Lina could "But I feel like am with the ghost of the woman you are,"

Sweet and yet cruel were Marcus's words; it didn't change that Lina was suffering and drowning within her grief.

Treading water for so long, Lina was close to giving up and allowing herself to sink.

"Haunted by a woman who is still living and breathing? That's quite the juxtaposition," laughing a little about it, Lina shook her head "I'm sorry, I am just tired of constantly losing people, and I know it's not just me who is,"

Thousands of people lost and were losing their loved ones, this was not a freak phenomenon experienced by Lina alone, but it was becoming harder to stand after every knockdown.

"We have weathered every storm since we met," Marcus pointed out, the shake in his body trembling from his hand into Lina's "We can do the same with this one."

Their love was like an act of defiance, and it left them with only each other to hold on to.

Lina's grip was starting to slip, falling away from Marcus's hand in the figurative sense; she lost everything for him.

Home, family and friends were all sold just to love this man, and she kept selling parts of herself to keep loving him.

And that was the problem, Lina loved Marcus, there was no price she would not pay to stay loving him.

It just came with too many painful shots at Lina's withering spirit.

The further down the path they shared that Lina tread with Marcus, she could feel that she was changing and becoming someone she no longer recognised.

If Marcus could only now see a ghost, Lina lived as one far longer and masked it well.

"I know that we can, Marcus," Lina sighed, being ever so careful when she came forward on the chair to allow Marcus to relax back, the strain of his sitting like he was hard to watch.

Lina needed a little time to piece herself back together, and she could not rush the process.

Marcus breathed out carefully, one eye in a wince when he did "Then can you at least look at me when you say that?"

Lina was looking at Marcus, just not in the eye.

For the very same reason, it was a searing pain to look at Elias right now; it was hard to look at Marcus because the baby in Lina's dream had their eyes.

The baby Lina could envision but never hold for more than a few seconds.

Trying to do as Marcus asked set a tremble within her heart, and Lina ended up standing to leave.

"Lina?" Marcus called out to Lina, imploring her to stay with just the use of her name.

Holding the point of her chest that felt like it was bleeding from within Lina took a deep breath and faced Marcus.

Marcus was in pain too, beyond the physical, and it was in seeing it that Lina was reminded that he lost their baby also.

"Stay," Marcus spoke in a whispering tone, his breaths stolen within the wince that twisted his mouth when he moved too rapidly for his broken body to try and stop Lina leaving.

Standing with a hunch, Marcus clutched his chest at the side; one arm stretched to the wall to support him, a shuffled step brought him closer.

Torn by Marcus's mental strength battling with his physical weakness, Lina caught Marcus just in time when he collapsed.

Trying to be careful while sinking with Marcus in her arms, Lina captured Marcus's hissing breaths in one ear when his head rested against hers, his chin on a shoulder.

With more strength than Marcus should have held, Lina took in a sharp breath when his arms came around her.

"Please don't leave me," With frailty, Marcus poured all his worry into four little words.


	83. Obligations

Coming to live within Nazi Germany Lina knew that showing face and soon was the best battle plan to gain favour and learn who would not be swayed.

Brushing shoulders with Germany's high society and their officer core came with some benefits, Princess Alice of Battenberg, daughter of Aunt Victoria and Lina's cousin.

Three of Alice's children were married to pro-Nazi's but her son and Lina's cousin Prince Philip was within the Royal Navy, placing Princess Alice in quite a predicament.

It was why Lina laughed while in conversation with a German general who mentioned Princess Alice of Greece.

"A general like yourself asked my dear cousin if there was anything he could do for her," Lina looked upon the champagne flute in her hand, it was almost empty "She replied you can take your troops out my country,"

Alice pulled no punches, not since her diagnosis as a person with schizophrenia some thirteen years before.

The small cluster Lina was within chuckled lightly, taking humour of the topic about Greece's occupation.

Lina was a Princess of Greece too, and she agreed with Princess Alice's point.

Being within Germany and falsely proclaiming her fealty to it, Lina used her newly appointed position to discover all that she could.

Eric refused to aid Lina beyond what his superiors ordered him within the Gestapo - But Danny was a willing participant.

Travelling from Battenberg to Berlin to answer the invitation extended by surprise by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, high command established in 1938 and initially overseeing the Heer, the Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine - Lina met with the most outstanding faces of the German side of the war.

Among those in attendance was Chief of the operations staff, Alfred Jodl, a man close to Adolf Hitler himself.

Learning early that Hitler was quite the paranoid man, Lina was supremely shocked to see that he too was there.

Absolutely alarming too was how calm and composed a man Adolf appeared to the public eye.

Germany was not doing so well, not since the decision to invade Russia and break their non-aggression pact.

They lost in El Alamein, losing the chance to seize the Suez Canal.

There too was Japan's entry to the war with the bombing of Pearl Harbour and Germany's declaration of war on the United States.

Lina knew that America entering could better aid the allied powers, as she wanted nothing more than to see this state of defilement created by Germany to end.

Rumour was that Hitler distrusted his high command and became more proactive within battle planning and tactics - a poor decision.

Lina politely excused herself from the General and his little entourage, working the room and creating connections.

Since coming to Germany, Marcus and Lina's marriage was made official by paper and publicly known.

Lina, Princess of Greece and Denmark weds Marcus Buckler, Oberstleutnant of the Luftwaffe on June 16th at Stadtkirche Darmstadt.

The papers printed it with plenty of propaganda and stories of how Lina thwarted taking precious German war plans with Marcus and Eric's assistance.

Lina was received with poor humour when she declared to them both that they could be a rare recipient of badges of honour from both England and Germany.

Secondly, for letting England take the plans for successfully duping Germany, they tried their best to stop it - and not just hand them over.

Lina was within a dangerous placement, and more so when discovering that some of Eleven Squadron were forced to scatter across occupied Europe.

Haines, Andy and Peter and Tinker were forced to pull back from Calais and cross into Belgium, Winters had been with them too, and Lina learned his capture was of self-sacrifice to allow the others to get away.

Danny's ability to find things out was impeccable, and Lina trusted him profoundly.

Which was why Lina decided to attend the soirée that evening.

Confirming that Haines, Andy, Peter and Tinker had successfully hidden within the Heer within Berlin, Lina was there for one more reason beyond flattering the German high command.

Collecting the four and bringing them back to Hesse safely.

A task Lina was forced to entrust to Danny and him alone.

Lina's position as a defector was not clandestine yet, so to be seen disappearing part way through the night was out of the question.

There too was that Lina failed to tell Marcus what she was up to.

Since Marcus's severe beating, he was kept from duties until a medical officer declared he was fit for flight again.

No longer showing the facial bruises, Marcus's ribs were taking some time to heal.

Three weeks had come and gone since Marcus's unofficial arrest, but he hid it well enough that he was in discomfort, choosing to stand on the perimeter of the room to avoid being knocked or crowded.

There was some remnant strain between them from Lina's miscarriage, and her choice to throw herself into the work that landed on her desk allowed her to avoid Marcus most of the time.

Expected to act as a face and attend speeches and parades to boost Hesse's morale and other parts of Germany, it was done with immense confidence and great misery.

Some, distastefully, called Lina Nazi-Prinzessin.

Using Lina's face to appeal better to the female population, it caused quite the stir.

Departing the centre of the hall emblazoned by Swastika's draping from the ceiling among the gold gilded decor, Lina stepped onto the balcony Marcus spent most the night hiding on.

Forced to stand for the best part of the night, Marcus had departed his posting of watching Lina from afar an hour or so before.

Being the one to make an effort to speak with Marcus this time, Lina closed the balcony doors behind them.

"You're fitting in well," Marcus didn't leave them in silence long after the doors closed - Lina was still holding the door handles.

It was nothing more than a pretence and one vital to their survival.

"I am accustomed to breaking bread with people I would rather stab," Lina laughed gently "I am merely playing face with them as they are with me,"

Working in a room of aristocrats and anyone of importance was always a dance where every step counted and had to be made with precision and finesse.

A den of sheep where you had to rise to become the wolves.

Marcus was bent a little, resting on the stone wall of the balcony "How deeply do you intend to play face?" He asked, holding the wall to aid him in standing up "From where I have been standing, you are enjoying the game a little too much."

Scathingly commenting that Lina looked to be doing more than playing a part, Marcus lost almost all his breath just by standing up while speaking.

"To play the game, you become the game. That's the politics of high society," Lina smiled as she came to Marcus's assistance, placing herself under his arm.

Marcus showed some surprise that Lina was beside him, let alone touching.

From the moment in the cabin where Marcus asked Lina not to leave him, there was no physical contact between them; not even a kiss.

In part due to Marcus healing, Lina refused to touch him, the other was her internal struggle to come to grips with the mess she involved herself within.

Barely a day was allowed for thought between the new duties, travelling and taking Elias from the hired nanny appointed by those who granted Lina the estate she was living in.

Lina was never materialistic, and she hated being surrounded by obscene wealth while pretending to be a gregarious woman.

Truth be told, Lina kept her social circles small and being made to be sociable was not something she was keen upon.

Along with Marcus, there was a chance to be Lina.

A foul-mouthed, sarcastic nymphomaniac.

Except with Marcus's current bodily state Lina was stuck only being sarcastic towards him, with the occasional slip of a swear word while doing it.

Sitting with Marcus away from the hall's falsities, Lina felt like she could take a breath.

"I should feel honoured," Marcus took the arm from around Lina's shoulder "You have made time to come and see me,"

There were residual pain and bitterness in Marcus's comment, and it forced Lina to look at him - something she had not done for a long time.

Eyes meeting Marcus again showed surprise that Lina held it.

"I wrote it into my schedule. Reminded me to speak with the husband," Lina mimicked writing on the palm of a hand "I allowed ten minutes to check you were actually still breathing, make idle conversation of how one another's day was, for it to end in an awkward silence and one of us leaving,"

Marcus's brow curved, his lips in a foul smile.

Lina's sarcastic humour didn't always translate so well, but she still smiled back at him.

"Your hiding behind that sarcastic humour is fine with anyone else," Marcus drawled, using a monotone to hide his annoyance "Don't insult me by using it on me."

Lina's smile dropped a little, but she recovered quickly.

"Sorry but being sarcastic is in my blood, and it won't go any time soon," Lina would not deny it was a defence mechanism, but it was tried and tested, and it worked.

Marcus slumped a little, resting his arms on his thighs, knitting his fingers "If that's the case, then you can cut this allotted time short and return to your duties."

Openly telling Lina to leave, it created a stutter in her chest, but not on her tongue.

"I'm glad you said it," Lina stood "Saves my breath from mindless prattling with you,"

Marcus sat back, holding his leg; the look of incredulity overrode the wince.

Typical to Lina's behaviours, she would cut sharper when a person's words grazed her.

There was no want to argue with Marcus or create any further distance, and a deep inhale of air took Lina to kneel before Marcus.

The stresses of becoming a pinnacle for the German people to convince them that they would win the war on top of carefully deciding what Danny would drop in England's hands took up a whole lot of headspace and trying to find some for Marcus was proving hard.

"Marcus," it felt like aeons passed since Lina last used his name "I am sorry,"

Sorry for being sarcastic, for pushing Marcus aside, not considering how he was feeling about everything.

There was a list of what the apology wanted to cover, but most of all she wanted to say sorry for abandoning Marcus.

Shuffling forward Lina dropped to sit on her knees between Marcus's legs, taking a gentle hold on his face.

"I didn't mean it," making it known that Lina didn't mean to insinuate that talking with Marcus was a bother, her fingers soothed across the creases that started to take a deeper holding on his face. "I came out here to speak with you because I wanted too," she would hold off from admitting that she missed his voice.

Marcus's face showed some relaxation when Lina touched it, calming slightly from the disbelief her comment shaped on his visage.

"I appreciate that you're more like your old self," Marcus took one of Lina's hands "But not the version I knew before we started being honest with one another,"

Marcus was referring to when they admitted their feelings, and Lina knew precisely why.

Returning to speaking with Marcus how she would when they were only in a working - but sexual - relationship, Lina noticed that she had started to rebuild the wall that Marcus carefully took down.

Lina swayed back a little, mouth in an amused pout "Are you sure that you're not inclined for it to be like then?"

Lina held Marcus's gaze, waiting for him to catch up with her line of thinking.

Marcus was in no condition to perform as he once could, but there were other ways to go about it - and Lina was sure that part of her being so snappish with Marcus was frustration.

Marcus looked behind them, the doors were closed and the other balconies empty of anyone.

When Marcus looked back, Lina stretched up to reach his lips, standing slowly when she did.

Lina's body reacted with a kick, taking their kiss deeper as soon as she could, running her fingers roughly through Marcus's hair.

Forced to control his breathing, and not make it too deep when Marcus took a breath, they came short and soft when Lina climbed onto his lap, pressing herself against him.

Lina was sure that she was bordering on desperate for this contact with Marcus, but she didn't care - not when Marcus slipped the hand away from her thigh to cup between them.

Stroking Lina through her underwear, Marcus watched when she withdrew a little from his mouth; forehead pressed to his a soft buck of the hips pushed Lina firmly against Marcus's hand.

Wanting more, Lina caught Marcus's eye when she fumbled a little impatient with his belt, a soft smile on his mouth as she did, Lina smiled back with a small moaned laugh.

Marcus's eyes closed when Lina finally took him in hand, starting slowly as he was with her.

"I can stand," Marcus gasped softly to Lina's complaint that she needed him.

Eyes mirthful and sure of his words, Lina stopped for a second, breathing heavily and thinking.

There was only one place possible on the balcony, and Lina stood up, hiking up the sides of her dress to slip down her knickers.

Kicking them aside when they dropped to her ankles Lina knew Marcus should not have been able to, but he stood and walked to her faster than he had in weeks.

Back bumping the balcony's stone wall, Lina climbed to sit on it, taking her hands from Marcus only to secure herself and bring up her dress.

Marcus came between Lina's thighs, holding under one to allow him to slide within her.

They paused, their shared complaints that it had been too long going between their tongues as they joined, Marcus held Lina with one hand while the other gripped the edge of the wall.

Needy of Marcus's physical affection, Lina crossed her legs carefully around him, aware that the slow but tender pace was not to tease but so that he could enjoy it as Lina was.

Wrapping a hand around the back of Marcus's head Lina held it when his head dropped against her shoulder.

Lina's excited rush was drawn out with Marcus pacing them, untangling slowly within her body as her body temperature climbed; and it was blissful.

Marcus lifted from Lina's shoulder, seeking her mouth they came together in soft smiles, tender moans and hushed words.

Their relationship was always very carnally driven, intensely so, and Lina was sure it was the part she wanted never to change.

Marcus's head dropped back, which gave Lina access to his neck, kissing hot trails over the smooth skin up to his chin that held the occasional bristle of starting stubble.

There was not an inch of this man that Lina did not love to touch, and she conveyed it when her hands ever so carefully travelled under Marcus's untucked shirt, touching every line and crease of his taut abdomen, before reaching around to his back.

Careful not to touch Marcus's chest, Lina's breath hitched deeply, she was close, and she told Marcus that she was.

Craving the taste of her orgasm, Lina found Marcus's eyes when he rested his head on hers.

Lina was seconds away from her climax, dangling on the edge of it and desperate for the fall to start.

Marcus took his hands from where he supported them both to clasp Lina's face within them, bringing their mouths together as they both fell into the pure and utter bliss of their bodies final surge.

Clinging to Marcus's arms when her body shuddered through its last stages, Lina close to whimpered - she was not in pain or any physical discontent, but sad that it was over.

Marcus's short and sharp wheezes and soft hisses marred the moment for only a second.

When Lina looked to check that Marcus was ok, there was a smile on his mouth even though his eyes were closed up a little from his discomfort.

"Do you need to sit down?" Lina asked, just as out of breath as Marcus, she cupped his cheek softly.

Marcus didn't speak but nodded, hands falling to hold the railing he looked to need a moment before attempting to move.

Unwrapping from around Marcus a quick swipe of a hand brushed off the grit that indented Lina's rear and upper thigh before she let the dress fall.

Being gentle as Lina tucked Marcus's shirt back into his trousers, there was much less fumbling with getting them done up as there was getting them undone.

"This wasn't a one-off," Marcus looked down at Lina "Was it?" Struggling to speak a little, the question came out ever so quiet.

Shaking off the notion that Lina would not want this again, a quick running of two fingers around the hem of Marcus's trousers ensured that his formal attire was back in place.

"Only until you're able to do it without being left like this," there was discomfort in seeing Marcus so winded and uncomfortable after what should have left them both feeling the polar opposite "I don't want to prolong this by either of us becoming carried away,"

The doctors told them it would be four to six weeks until Marcus was back on form, and even then to be careful for another two weeks.

It did mean that Lina and Marcus could have time together, even if it meant in the evenings or mornings before she was whisked off to fulfil some duty.

Somehow Lina would create the time to bring Marcus back into the focal point of her life, Elias included.

Trying hard to avoid Marcus due to the lingering claw of guilt over the miscarriage, Lina failed to see that she was actually in need of Marcus's presence, even if the dream that made it painful to look at him still haunted her sleep.

Marcus was not to blame for it, and treating him like it was somehow his fault was not fair.

"I don't want to be something only scheduled under what you think is an obligation," mentioning Lina's hurtful comment, Marcus pecked her head gently.

"You have never been an obligation, Marcus," Lina dismissed the thought, chasing it away fiercely "I need you."

Holding one another's gaze, Marcus's smile was tender, and fulfilled, like that small sentence was all that he needed to hear from Lina.


	84. Confidence

Confidence was never a pretence for Lina it was worn like a delicate silk gown, cinched to every dip and curve of her body, fitted so that not a gap or crease could be found.

This was how Lina needed to be when the Waffen-SS came marching through the estate's front door.

Entering the drawing-room, Lina stood before the fireplace staring down the man who took centre stage of the twenty men he brought with him.

"Standartenführer Pieper," raising the glass in hand to Lina's lips she switched on a smile "What is the cause for your delectable presence," shamelessly flirtatious even while Marcus was within the room, a step drew her closer to the men.

Joachim Pieper bowed slightly before removing his cap, sweeping a hand to settle back his hair. "Apologies for this intrusion," he started, holding out a hand to Lina "But I must ask that you assemble your staff," taking her hand lightly he kissed the back of it with a flirtatious smile returned.

Bringing the hand back Lina tilted her head curiously "It is midnight, Standartenfuhrer. What cause would require me to wake them?" Portraying concern, Lina nodded agreement to the request when a member of her guard stepped forward for the word to complete the order.

Joachim turned to peruse those within the room after Lina granted permission to wake the men sleeping; it was only Marcus other than the men Joachim had behind him.

"We received an anonymous tip that belligerents were hiding among your staff," Pieper addressed the reason for his calling at an unsociable hour "For your safety, and that of your son we have been tasked to make sure that it is nothing more than a hoax,"

Lina came over surprised.

"I have thirty staff, I know each by face," walking towards Marcus where he held Elias who was fast asleep, Lina placed down the glass on a table "I have not seen any acting in a way that would make me believe this tip to be true,"

Taking Elias carefully, Lina avoided Marcus's desire to catch her eye, to share an unspoken word and find out what could be the cause of the middle of the night call.

Joachim made a polite smile "For peace of mind we would like to speak with them,"

Lina was not about to stop Joachim from performing his duty "Of course. Do what you must," bringing Elias close Lina stroked a hand over his head, his blonde hair becoming thick as he grew "I will take my son to bed though. I don't want him present should your tip be accurate,"

"As you wish," Joachim turned, clicking fingers at the man on the end of the front row of the soldiers he came in with.

"Accompany her highness," ordering the man to become a watch to Lina it was done with a click of the heels, and a bow of the head to her. Moving in front of the door to open for Lina. Before the room became blocked by the open door, Lina looked at Marcus and flashed a sly smile.

Marcus maintained a calm visage, but for just a second opened his eyes wider when the man accompanying Lina tipped his hat a fraction to Marcus as they left the room.

The tip was no accident; it was sent by Lina's dictation to the central SS office.

Danny fulfilled his part effortlessly to arrange for four men of the Waffen-SS to post with Lina for extra protection.

Four men who Joachim was about to deliver to Lina's hand that very morning.

Crossing paths with the freshly woken men Lina smiled at them as they made polite greetings before following the man she sent to collect them into the drawing-room.

Counting them as they walked past Lina accounted for all thirty but stayed silent while walking Elias to his bedroom across Marcus and Lina's hall.

Corridor checked the door closed as Lina settled Elias in the cot.

Arms free Lina turned and wrapped them around Haines tight, stepping back only to inspect him.

There was a scar that sliced over the left of Haines's mouth, taking both his hands Lina could see that the left had been burnt, the skin too white, waxed and knotted by his thumb.

"What happened?" Letting their fingers connect, Lina held tightly to Haines's hand when his head dropped on Lina's with a sigh.

Haines did not speak for some time, the throb of his Adam's apple becoming prominent.

"Jackson was taken for questioning when we tried to leave Lille. They shot him on the spot. Didn't even say a word," detailing the start of what led to their being stuck in Germany he placed his hands on Lina's face "They were members of Belgium's resistance impersonating Heer border guards,"

The fateful twist of irony was something spectacular, that both sides were impersonating German soldiers, and were actually allies.

Jackson being no more opened up the festering wound on Lina's heart.

"The others?" Asking about the men who did not become stuck travelling through Belgium into Germany, Lina wanted to know at least they got away even if Haines could not entirely confirm it.

Haines let Lina's face go to hold her shoulders, head in a slow shake "I don't know if they made it back,"

It was not what Lina wanted to hear, but it was not definite that they were no more.

Elijah was among the unknowns, and Lina wished there was something Danny could obtain to tell her whether they were alive or not.

As per the arrangement with England, the information would be a one-way street until Lina secured the four under her charge, then she would wait for word on how they were going to return them to England.

Sending Danny to seek pardon for Lina's supposed treachery, only after a thorough investigation into Victoria was granted.

Danny returned with the news that Victoria was arrested and hung in the Tower of London's courtyard sometime at the beginning of July.

Elias was now a year old, starting to walk and learn words, and she did not want him to grow any older surrounded by the ethos of Nazi Germany.

There was one small grant of information permitted to Lina from England, and it was for the ears of the man she was stood with, and for one that was still in the drawing-room below.

"Lydia has given birth," speaking of Haines daughter, Tinker's wife, Lina finally found cause to smile "A little girl, she called her Bonnie Annette,"

Haines lifted his head, a short second of letting the information sink in, he gave a short laugh, before bringing Lina in for an impossibly tight hug.

Patting Haines back, it sounded like he was about to cry, so Lina stamped on his foot.

Jumping back a little, Haines quickly pinched his nose, trying to come back under the control of his excitement.

"Congratulations, you're a grandfather," calling Haines old in a roundabout fashion, Lina smiled deeper when he lightly twisted the tip of her ear for the comment.

"I might be a granddad now, but I am still your superior," Haines reminded with a point of his finger "Have a little respect,"

There was nothing but short jesting within Haines quip, and Lina soon shook her head, swinging out a hip "I outrank you by miles, always have," reminding him of her birth, Lina flicked up a brow, challenging Haines.

Opening the door, Haines switched from using English to German to deliver his response.

"I have bent my knee to you many times," he turned away from Lina as he said it "And I would continue to do so," waiting in the hall for Lina to join him, Haines looked down at her.

Standing side on to Haines, a hand laid on his chest, Lina patted it "You were quite the subject too," with a short wink, a smirk came with it.

Removing the hand Lina headed towards the stairs; they could not spend too long away from the others, Lina needed to oversee Joachim's interrogation of the staff.


	85. Secrets Shared

Pouring a drink Lina sipped at it, walking her fingers across the sofa's back, observing the individual interrogations.

Joachim pulled out a chair, asking each man to sit one after another.

The Soldier's Joachim arrived with spread out to search the estate.

"Name?" Joachim asked, starting the conversation in a friendly manner.

Their gazes met, and Marcus showed deep riddled irritation, a twitch in his brow, making a silent question.

A time would come for Lina to detail Marcus what was going on and what could soon be happening, but it was not for that moment.

Lina looked up when the ceiling was riddled by thumps and scrapes taking one more sip from the glass - they were tearing the place apart.

Asking Wilhelmina to stay with Elias and be sure that he should wake that he was looked after, Lina swirled a look towards Haines where he was posted at the door.

Marcus fixed Haines with an almost malignant stare, the grip on the back of the sofa falling away when he took Lina by the elbow.

Walking out of the room Lina shook off Marcus's arm but not before he opened a door in the hall, the room turned up already by the Waffen-SS men, Marcus stopped short of slamming the door behind them.

Sidestepping a pile of opened books Lina hopped to sit on the pulled out desk, crossing her legs.

"Why is he here?" Marcus exuded a calm and rational demeanour, but the sharpness in his stare spoke of his irritation.

Waving out the hand occupied with the glass Lina shrugged "Who?"

Did Marcus not notice that Andy, Peter and Tinker were among the Waffen-SS too?

Suspecting that Marcus remained focused on Haines like he was some threat, Lina sighed when Marcus made it clear that he was not in the mood for any word games.

"They ran into some issues while trying to get to Calais; I am helping them get back home," restricted to a whisper, it forced Marcus to step closer to hear.

Once the news came of why Haines was in their home, Marcus set his hands on the desk either side of Lina, jaw flexing.

"Why did you not tell me?" Wanting to know the cause and reason for not being drawn into the loop, Marcus's eyes grew in their intensity - they were fiercely collecting every little detail of Lina's face, analysing it.

"You were not in any condition to help, and I didn't want to put any more stress on you," touching Marcus's face, Lina froze when he took himself away from her hand "Marcus?"

Taking in a deep breath now that Marcus was able, he held a hand over his face, deep in thought.

"You said you chose your side," Marcus spoke from under the hand, his chest filled with a frustrated breath "Was that just another lie?"

Another lie?

It was the truth that it was a lie.

"Marcus, I said what I needed to say to get you out of their hands," Lina raised her arms as if it was not the most obvious thing. "He threatened to kill our son. I did what I had to do,"

Angry, but forced to stick to hissing whispers, Lina came off the desk.

"I killed a man who I had known for years so that you wouldn't die. So don't you dare-," she stabbed his chest with a finger "-,Act like you have any right to be mad that I spun a fucking splendid lie to save your arse."

Marcus stood firm but knocked away Lina's finger, hard.

Drawing a deep breath to remain level headed Lina knocked down the last of the whiskey, tongue skirting around her teeth as she stood in thought.

"I have been granted a pardon. I have been carefully selecting what to hand back to England," Lina laid down all that was worked upon in the weeks where she was acting like she was in full favour of the Nazi regime "When the word comes as to how I am to return Haines. The other three, Elias will be going with them, myself included."

Marcus's eyes grew wide, his mouth open to argue with Lina, a hand coming over it kept him silent.

"Germany will lose this war Marcus, you know this," with Hitler taking more proactive role things were not going well for them. "Not now America has entered. Germany is running out of resources, and no war will ever be won while fighting on two fronts," they were tackling the east and the west all at once.

Cautiously taking back the hand to let Marcus speak, Lina held his tempestuous stare steadily "You have been granted a conditional pardon too,"

There was no intention to leave Marcus behind, Lina wanted Marcus to come with Elias and herself when the time came - even if it meant Marcus would be arrested the second his feet landed on British soil.

Being held in the Tower of London for a few weeks before becoming house arrest was better than a firing squad.

"I don't want Elias being raised in this hell hole; their thinking is barbaric. The camps? Do you know what they do there?" Auschwitz-Birkenau was a place, not even the Devil himself would set foot "This ethnic cleansing is heinous,"

Marcus continued to stare hard at Lina a twitch of his mouth, suggesting that he was about to speak, Lina waited.

Telling Marcus that his country of birth would lose, thinking it was a disgrace would undoubtedly have struck a chord with him.

"Is this what you have been doing, love?" The term of endearment came out sarcastically "Running around behind my back, planning to take my son, and sail back to merry old England?"

Lina's brow quirked up "That is precisely what I have been doing. You can stay here if you want, but Elias will be leaving with me." There would be no budging on that part, Elias would not stay any longer than he had too.

There was no pinpoint on what part Marcus was, in particular, angry about. All of it could be the cause for the tension within his posture, why he felt the need to stand totally upright and stare downward at Lina.

"Marcus, you were willing to defect before. Why now is it an issue?" Lina could not assume, but she did not understand why Marcus appeared determined to fight her every step of the way on this.

"My issue is that you have again been keeping things from me. Everything is always secret with you," Stating what was fact, Marcus shook his head, dropping his side of their staring match "I am tired of it. Tired of needing to fight you every step to have even a slither of the truth,"

Choosing not to tell Marcus about what was going on right under his nose was for one simple reason.

"Marcus, I keep things from you for one reason," Lina settled her hands to his chest.

"If this is discovered. Or we are betrayed, anything of the sort, you knowing nothing means that Elias will not have two dead parents," Marcus was a powerful orator when he needed to be, there was no doubt within Lina that should things go wrong, he could convince a trial that he was duped and knew nothing.

Marcus startled at the admission, his head moving back a fraction as if he needed to regard Lina from a different angle.

"From the moment I dropped my name and spun everything that has happened these last three years back around, I have done it so that your intentions to denounce your loyalty would never touch the surface," letting her hands spread out and come down Marcus's arms to find his hands. She slipped their fingers together "Like with this planning, I wanted you to have no part within it, and I still don't until the time comes where it is put into action."

Marcus curled his fingers with Lina's "I am not doing any of this to seclude you, but should the worst come, Elias will have you,"

There was no safety assured until they were back on British soil, and until they were to set in motion their escape from Germany, Marcus was safer knowing as little as possible.

Marcus tugged their connected hands, bringing Lina into his chest, he held her head between his hands, kissing it.

"We are going to do this together, or not at all," Marcus softened his hold, bringing his arms down and around Lina's back "We will weather any storm that comes, we always do."


	86. Only a Few Days Longer

Giessen Army depot was home to the Kampfgeschwader 55 - KG 55 for short - or Grief as it was nicknamed.

The Luftwaffe bomber unit operated exclusively with the Heinkel He 111's which Lina recognised well from when they flew over Britain.

John Dundas of 609 Squadron took down their Geschwaderkommodore, Alois Stoeckle on August 14th 1940.

"I am told you're quite the talent in the air," Ernst Kuhl, KK-55's current commanding officer flashed a curious smile "You hold rank within the Royal Air Force equivalent to our Major, correct?"

Called to the airfield to inspect it and speak with the Gruppen, Lina adjusted the angle of her umbrella "You're correct, yes," walking down the stationary aircraft's gangway. It created a nostalgic ripple within Lina.

Not since the flight when Barnaby died had Lina piloted an aircraft over a year ago.

Ernst pointed to one of the aircraft, looking at it "Have you ever flown a German plane?" He asked, brimming with curiosity to know.

Allowed a short moment to look behind, Lina caught Haines eye, and he smiled softly when she did.

Choosing Haines to act as Lina's personal escort and bodyguard meant that he would accompany Lina on every outing, and this one was crucial.

They needed to know the layout, learn the security, numbers and anything else that could be obtained within the visit - and Haines was to be her second set of eyes.

"I can't say I have held the pleasure," Lina came to stand beside Ernst to inspect the bomber plane, "My husband tells me they're quite magnificent in flight, however,"

Speaking of Marcus, there was the knowledge that his posting was within the very airbase Lina was touring.

Taken from single flight and placed within a bomber Gruppen, could not have been any more beneficial.

"Buckler is your husband, isn't he? A fine flier that man," Ernst held both hands behind his back with a single nod "Do you miss taking to the skies?"

Lina stopped dead in her thoughts when catching Haines groan of discontent at the mention of Marcus.

The two men did not get along well, and Lina was forced to be sure they were not left alone together too long.

Foolishly, Lina resumed relations with Haines some three weeks after he came to be under her charge.

When Marcus was not around or away, Lina would take Haines in her office under the pretence of discussing future engagements.

There was never much talking beyond the short flirtations which led to Lina being bent over the desk. Even against the wall. Sometimes the sofa would take their fancy too.

Riskily, Lina had laid Haines down, taking ever so sweet a time to straddle him completely naked in the middle of the office floor; Marcus had been home at the time.

Each time Lina would feel disappointed in herself, ashamed and guilty, but Haines was a sin she could not resist, not after he reminded her how it was to be with him on the train back in the December of the previous year.

It left Lina coming to terms that fidelity was something she could never commit too.

"I do," Lina blinked out of the haze of her guilt, turning a warm but distantly longing smile on Ernst "Flying has been a passion of mine since I was very young,"

Lina was only twenty-seven as of that year, there were still many flying years left within her.

Ernst chuckled pleasingly "Should your purpose not be so precious; I would let you join with us," he extended an arm, resuming their walk "I would rather like to witness your presence in the sky, but alas, it can't be so,"

Keeping from looking back at Haines again, Lina trusted that he was paying close attention to everything around them.

Their only way out of Germany would be to fly, and to take all of them would require the likes of a bomber plane, just like Heinkel's Lina was graciously being shown.

"Ah," Ernst came to a stop, rocking on his heels "I believe you have a visitor," the smile he wore was politely conspicuous as he nodded towards one of the hangars.

Following the line of sight, Lina returned the smile "I shall be only a moment,"

There was no need for Haines to accompany Lina and the look she gave was more warning for him to stay behind.

Haines was compliant, but his stare was like a Hawks when it found Marcus.

Leaving Haines with Ernst to meet with Marcus as he came across the runway, Lina lifted the umbrella to bring him under when they reached each other.

"I didn't think this visit was today?" Marcus asked, settling his hands on Lina's waist.

A careful shake of the head confirmed that Marcus's assumption was correct "They wanted me to come sooner, they sent someone around to ask me to attend today,"

Marcus's fingers drummed thoughtfully on Lina's side "It could be due to our expected flight to Stalingrad tomorrow," he mentioned, dropping in calmly that he would be away for some time.

Fearful always that Lina would receive a knock on the door that Marcus was missing, injured or worse, dead, she set a hand on his arm "For what reason?"

Hitler denied the men stationed in Russia resupply, telling them to stand firm and hold their positions - something impossible to do when they were half-starved and ill-equipped for the treacherous weather Russia was prone to.

Marcus tilted his head a little, taking away one hand and silently asking for them to walk.

Lina did so, turning while placing her hand within Marcus's, their pace was slow.

"I am on a reconnaissance flight," Marcus detailed the purpose "They want to get a better idea of the Red Army's strongholds within Stalingrad, and so I have been tasked with to fly out,"

A reconnaissance flight was no less dangerous than any other; sometimes, they were the more perilous.

"I should be gone a couple of days at most," giving a time frame that the mission should take, Marcus, placed an arm around Lina "I will be back before you even realise I have gone," he spoke about Lina's busy schedule.

True to Marcus's point, Lina was supposed to be busy for the next week with her public engagements; yet Marcus's timing to be gone would be a setback in their planning.

Marcus was to be the reason behind Lina's frequent as possible visits.

"I know," Marcus sighed like he read Lina's mind "But it can't be helped as of right now. I have to go,"

Lina knew it was not by purpose that Marcus would be leaving, but she could not help but feel that fate was sabotaging them again.

"Just make sure you come back," Lina fell to a whisper as she said it, not wanting to have to make such a sentence to Marcus, it created a gut-wrenching twist of anxiety.

Marcus came to a halt, twisting around to be face to face with Lina he kissed her cheek softly "I promise that I will,"

Speaking with pure confidence that it was a promise he could keep, Marcus dipped out from under the umbrella when his name echoed from a hangar they were stood by.

Telling them that he would be only a moment, Marcus returned to Lina, settling a long kiss upon her.

"I won't be back until this is done," making it known that they would not see each other now for at least a week, Marcus stroked a thumb down Lina's cheek.

"I love you," being sure to tell Marcus, and wanting it to be known that Lina truly did, she snuck another kiss from him, prolonging it for as long as she was allowed.

Marcus stayed with Lina until a second more impatient shout forced them apart, their eyes meeting warmly, Lina smiled as Marcus leaned in for one more.

"It will only be a few days," Marcus reminded "I love you, too,"

Unable to stay with Lina any longer, Marcus left her with one final kiss and ducked out from the umbrella, jogging over to the hangar that he was called to.

Watching after Marcus until he was no longer in Lina's sight, her breath left her in a short, pensive sigh.

It would only be a few days.


	87. So Far To Fall

Pinching the nape of Haines neck Lina's body shivered to its finish. The hand pressed to the side of the bookcase to help keep her upright, Lina's head rolled back, knocking against the wall.

Face pressed into Lina's chest, Haines breathing was laboured, the tremble in his hands where they cupped under Lina's thighs matched to the soft shake within them.

Carefully, a satisfied laugh came from Lina "You're like a fine wine," musing on her thought she stroked the fingers up the back of Haines's neck when his head lifted "You get better with age,"

Haines gave a little scoff, withdrawing from Lina with care to ensure the condom was still in place.

Feet back on the ground, Lina smoothed out the wrinkles of her skirt and soothed the disarray of her hair.

Leaving Haines to tidy himself, Lina made a warning reminder for him not to place the condom in the bin as it was.

"I know," Haines returned in a sigh, taking a sheet of paper from the stack on Lina's desk.

Being sure to take extra care while with Haines for lack of wanting any mishaps, there was the constant risk that someone would casually look in the bin, and so she would be sure that Haines would disguise the evidence of their affair within the scrunched paper.

Returning to sitting behind the desk, Lina lit a cigarette, handing one out to Haines when he dropped the balled up paper in the bin before taking up the chair on the other side of the desk.

"Do you enjoy us?" Haines asked after a few moments of splendidly shared quiet, his arm on the desk while flicking his cigarette in the ashtray "The whole affair element, I mean,"

Asking if Lina enjoyed being like they had been when she was only nineteen required some thought.

There was little difference between how they were now, to how they started; except that Lina was the one who was married, and Haines, a widower.

"I'm wondering if it is the same for you now, as to how it was for me when Florence was still alive," mentioning his wife, her name fell tenderly from Abbot's tongue. "I loved her. I still love her. I spent the best years of my life with that woman, and no one will ever compare to her. But-" he flicked the ash again "-,I never felt guilty when I was with you. It was something different than what I had with Florence,"

There was no precise way to put it into words, but somehow Haines managed to explain their situation's essence.

Lina didn't feel guilt for sleeping with Haines, it was enjoyable and loving - what Lina held guilt for was the hurt it would cause Marcus should he ever find out, Lina had witnessed it with Florence.

Like Haines said only seconds before, he loved Florence, and no woman would ever come close to what she was to Abbot, but there was no guilt for being with Lina.

The same was with Lina.

No man would ever replace or compare to what Marcus meant to Lina, they couldn't even hope to, but she would hold on to Haines until it was impossible to do it anymore.

"It's the same," Lina answered while meeting Haines eye "I love Marcus. I know that I do, but..." she trailed off, either unable or incapable of putting into words what it was she felt for Haines.

Haines stared at his feet, the hand in his lap coming up to scratch the thumb over his temple "Would it ruin this if I said that I love you?"

Meeting Haines's eye, Lina near dropped the cigarette on her lap.

Never expecting for Haines to say anything of the sort, Lina's words became choked in the back of her throat.

Relieved from answering when the faint echo of a devious, mischief filled laugh - or rather cackling - Lina put out the cigarette before the soft thumping of hands battered the door.

Holding the arms of the chair as Lina left it, she paused only to lean down to Haines when she came around the desk, cusping his mouth with a short kiss.

Departing the moment to open the door, Lina caught Elias in a hug when she dropped down to be level with him.

No longer a baby depending on Lina to carry him around, Elias was walking on his own feet -wobbly- but confident.

"Have you escaped Wilhelmina again?" Lina inquired with a soft grin, a toothy smile on Elias's face, he wriggled and squirmed when Lina tickled his sides.

Half expecting to see a panic-stricken Wilhelmina rushing around the corner looking for Elias, there was a concern when she heard and saw nothing.

Bringing Elias to sit on Lina's lap she glanced up when Haines came to stand behind them, crouching down he put a hand on Elias's head, ruffling his hair.

"Can I safely assume that the answer to my question is a no?" Haines used a whisper, still focused on Elias while he tested the words he was yet to wrap his tongue around.

Lina listened closely to Elias's endearing efforts to speak, he had a few words in English and German, but sometimes they ended up clashing together in a delightful combination.

"It won't change," Lina whispered just as Haines had, wary that someone would overhear "I never really knew it at the time, but, you were my first love, Abbot,"

At one time sure that Marcus was Lina's first love, it was in the course of maturing and learning to let down all the defences that she walled herself within, that Lina realised that she had been in love once before.

One time swearing that she would never tell Haines, it was his own admittance that let Lina know it was safe to say to him without their friendship becoming awkward.

Regarding Lina quietly, Haines calculated and controlled visage was warmer, as was his smile.

"I often wish Florence never found us that day," Haines looked ahead, checking that the corridor was empty when they continued to speak "I always wondered would we still be the same as we were before that moment,"

Lina once held the same wish and thought, she knew already what the answer was.

Should Florence never have come to see Haines that evening five years ago, Lina would have continued with their relationship.

There was the thrill of it, especially when Haines became incredibly bold when inviting Lina and her father around for dinner, and they slyly took a hot and heavy moment in the garden when stepping outside for a claimed cigarette.

It was the only time they did it at Haines home.

"We would be as we are now," Lina answered, letting Elias stand when he started to fuss, she stood, letting Elias hold onto the ends of her fingers as he walked them down the hallway.

Following them, Haines stopped speaking about the subject they whispered, letting Lina focus on Elias.

Marcus would always come first for Lina just how Florence took priority over Lina for Haines, and it would stay that way unless Marcus found out.


	88. Timing

Heavy breaths falling away their bodies paused mid throes, the creaking squeak of the table grinding to a halt, Lina found Marcus's staring eyes.

The clawed grip on Haines sleeve fluctuated, coming looser when Lina's surprise lessened and became something else.

Standing in the doorway that led off the dining room, Marcus finally blinked, as though he only then took notice of what was -or rather had been- in progress on the kitchen table.

Haines coughed, covering for the awkward tension that filled the room.

"My lady I—?!" Wilhelmina pushed at the man between her thighs, falling off the edge of the table, face even more flushed than it was from the second they walked in.

Entering the kitchen from either end, Lina threw focus on Marcus much like he seemed to have done with Lina.

Taken by surprise when stumbling across the sordid affair, Lina had gripped Haines's arm, but now let it go.

The room was impossibly awkward, and Wilhelmina looked as if she could cry from the embarrassment of not only being walked in on but that it occurred with three people almost simultaneously.

Wanting to spare the young girl any further embarrassment, Lina forced Haines aside and let Wilhelmina leave, the soldier less flustered walking out a little calmer behind.

"Well I guess that answers why Elias keeps getting away," Lina couldn't help but smile, taking a further step into the kitchen, thoughts better collected with the peep show absent; Marcus was home.

Coming into the room, Marcus ignored Haines presence to meet Lina in the middle of the room, her arms reaching to embrace Marcus; the flutter of the swing door telling Lina that Haines had left.

Placing Elias down for a sleep mere minutes before coming back downstairs, it appeared that Marcus arrived home just as Lina was about to discover where their nanny disappeared to.

Their joint finding of Wilhelmina is a strange moment to cross paths.

"When did you get back?" Lina didn't want to admit that she had been counting the days and became increasingly nervous when it became a day shy of a fortnight since Marcus left.

Keeping Lina close, Marcus came down for a kiss before speaking; it was gentle and comforting.

"A few hours ago," Marcus stayed in place, only making space between their faces to hold her gaze when he spoke "The debriefing took some time,"

Well aware how long it could take to hold a debriefing when returned from reconnaissance flights, Lina was just relieved that Marcus came home.

"And how are things?" Querying the state of Russia's invasion, the pinch in Marcus's mouth was all the words she did not need.

Pondering on whether it was a bother for Marcus compared to Lina's joy at knowing things were not going well for Germany, she kept the thoughts to herself.

"Elias is asleep," Lina mentioned, wanting to assure Marcus that all was fine with their son "And he's made an accidental discovery of a word," it came out with a little amused smile.

Marcus's brow curved, showing he was curious to know.

With Elias's mix of both their native tongues within his growing vocabulary, it should have come as no surprise when Elias came running down the hall in all his innocence while repeating: "Scheiße,"

Marcus's eyes pinched closed as Lina regaled her morning delight of witnessing it, but it came with a short and straightforward laugh.

"Certainly put a grin on everyone's faces this morning," Lina mumbled, forgetting to mention that the men, her Squadron included, almost encouraged Elias and tried teaching him a few more.

"I imagine it did," Marcus agreed "At the very least it's not the worst he could have come out with," his eyes opened, the smile on his face reaching them.

There were far worse words that Elias could have been shouting down the hall, but it still was no better than the first word he managed to finesse in German, was that one.

"How have you been?" Marcus asked, almost like it was what he had wanted to say from the very start.

Since Marcus left, there was a whole manner of work to be done. Both for Lina's commitments, but also within their planning.

Andy and Peter acted as the go-betweens for Danny, and a date was set for their intended departure.

A night flight was best, and there would be an upcoming flight to Belgium for the Grief.

"Busy, I have been swamped," Lina sighed, running her hands up and down Marcus's until they settled on his forearms. "Next month will be especially," using caution for speaking about it in an open space, Marcus caught on without further prompt.

They would have to overtake one of the Heinkel's meant to be leaving on the flight and do it without raising the alarm.

There was surety only in that Marcus would be part of the team flying toward Belgium.

They would have to touch down in the intended landing zone and refuel too, before taking off again should they follow the plans set out for them by Kuhl.

The plan they would be working to would mean Marcus would claim fault within their flight.

Saying there were issues would allow landing earlier than the rest of the bombers to lessen suspicion that Marcus's crew would not step off the plane, but Haines, Andy, Peter and Tinker.

Lina would have to remain hidden onboard with Elias at that time.

"On the fifteenth," Lina pinched slightly at Marcus's arms when she said "We won't get another chance," should this one fail they would never be able to try again.

Marcus stood straighter like he was taking in the small snippet of information.

Between now and then, they could not afford for anything to go wrong.


	89. Worthless

Face in hand Lina made a whimpering withering sigh.

Standing at the bottom of the garden steps, Lina listened in some mental strain. At the same time, Andy and Peter tried their utmost to teach Elias another explicit word from the German dictionary.

"I don't think it was an accident," Marcus came down the steps behind.

Fingers splitting to see through them Lina's lips pinched "Neither do I." She spoke through slightly gritted teeth.

Elias was cackling away, smiley and happy while being carried on Andy's shoulders with Peter trying to help him pronounce something a little more unsavoury.

Lina couldn't decide what was worse of the whole situation.

Their nanny was a little sexual deviant who, from speaking with one man, worked her way through the men within the estate - and two of Lina's closest friends were filling her son's vocabulary with filth.

"I'm going to kill them," Lina decided when Elias shouted: "Wichser!"

A short poorly disguised laugh from behind made Lina turn, and Marcus too.

Further up the steps, Haines's fist was pressed to his mouth, the other hand out as if to apologise for finding Elias swearing funny.

"I don't know why you're laughing," Lina smiled back at Haines "I will be teaching her to call you a cunt,"

Speaking of Haines granddaughter, Bonnie Annette, the threat was received with a look of pure shock and dismay, which became Marcus's turn to try and hide his laugh.

Switching focus to Marcus a disproving shake of the head was made, before Lina started back up the steps - it was too late to stop the lesson in German swearing, Elias had the hang of it.

Taking Marcus's hand as Lina passed him, the hold became a fraction tighter when becoming eye level with Haines - and only because he purposely and very loosely curled his fingers with her free hand as they crossed over.

Subtle and easily dismissible as the contact was, it still earned Haines a stark warning stare.

Visually showing nothing that the message was received, Haines walked down the steps and away.

"I've been wondering why you choose to take him with you when you have to attend your engagements?" Marcus unlinked their hands, moving it to settle on the small of Lina's back.

There was good reason Lina took Haines on any outing that was for official business.

"Marcus, you have seen these men," Lina stopped walking to look more directly at Marcus "Who would you pick?"

Andy and Peter could be excellent aides, but they were also terribly troublesome should something that could cause them amusement to catch their eye.

Tinker was, well, Tinker.

Marcus stopped when Lina did and was soon nodding "You make a fair point,"

"Exactly," Lina tapped a finger off Marcus's chest.

Haines was Lina's eyes and ears when she was too preoccupied with whatever drivel she was attending, and she held utter faith that Haines would not mess around the second, an opportunity came up.

Marcus looked to be considering it for a short time, and when he eventually put it into words, Lina ended up folding her arms with a small shake of the head.

"If you're trying to ask if there was something with him, then just say it," Lina grumbled.

"If you insist," Marcus came back with a sharper tone "Did you sleep with him?"

"For nearly three years. Yes," Lina answered straightforwardly, hoping to disarm Marcus from asking anything further about her past with Abbot that could lead him to ask about their present.

Marcus showed no surprise to hear it come from Lina directly, but he did take away the hand from her back "And are you still?"

Marcus posed it as a question, but it wasn't.

Blindsided, Lina didn't know why, but she nodded.

Marcus didn't even look surprised, but instead like he expected for it to be the answer.

Heart dropping like it had nothing beneath to catch it, Lina could hardly breathe when Marcus started to speak.

"Elijah, I could forgive as we never made it clear what was between us," Marcus kept his tone level.

"Paul will never be accounted for because you were made to believe I was dead," he took care while mentioning Paul.

"France was an extreme exception," Marcus looked down, turning the ring on his finger around slowly, almost like he was contemplating taking it off "But this, this is the last time,"

It was possibly the directness of Marcus's question when he asked if Lina was having an affair, but she couldn't grasp why she nodded when Marcus asked.

"I have chased you across four countries now, and I won't do it anymore," Marcus stated, and it let Lina know that some form of ultimatum was coming.

"I am either your husband," Marcus left the ring alone "Or just a man you married,"

Marcus would have been calling himself one and the same to anyone listening, but it wasn't.

Lina knew what Marcus was saying without saying it.

"You're my husband, Marcus," trying to say it without choking was hard, but Lina urged her voice to come through strong.

Holding a conversation that could well be the very end of what they were on the garden steps, Lina couldn't find the point where she spiralled so low to hurt this man who had given his all to Lina.

"This is the last time," Marcus said it again "There will be no other chances," There was no deniability that he meant it "I refuse to be second to any man for you."

Marcus had never been the second choice for Lina, and she told him as such.

"You make that very hard to believe when you've been fucking another man in your office for weeks," Marcus stated, making it known that he knew, and obviously for some time.

It left Lina in a state of confusion as to why Marcus only that second made it clear that he did.

"I don't think you realised it yourself when you were saying it as we talked before your wedding to Knud," Marcus peculiarly softened his tone "But you have serious self-esteem issues," he detailed what he had picked up on that Lina apparently missed "You sleep with those who make you feel that you're worth something,"

Startling, Lina took a backwards step, opening her mouth it closed when Marcus took hold of her, keeping her from retreating any further or even speaking.

Eyes dampening, Lina's jaw tensed painfully.

"Elijah, Paul, even him. They all cared or still care about you, and your believing that it is your confidence that sway them to your will is just your need to feel needed and wanted, that you're more than your money and title," Marcus kept his tone soft, gentle even as he stripped away Lina's long-lived through fears and exposed them.

Becoming angry felt unjust at that moment, but Lina could feel herself seething.

"You don't have to do that with me," Marcus whispered, somehow holding her more firmly, yet softly when he brought her into his chest, a hand on the back of her head holding her in place "I don't care about any of it. I never have because it was you that I fell in love with, and only you,"


	90. Heads or Tails?

Made to choose between Abbot or Marcus, a slow pace carried Lina around her office space, flipping a coin.

Even though Lina declared that she wanted Marcus, there was a withering doubt within him that she chose because it was what she wanted, rather than being put on the immediate spot.

So Marcus told Lina to take some time and think about it.

And that was precisely what Lina was doing.

When Marcus proclaimed that Lina's low self-esteem was what made her seek out sexual partners regardless of being married, it flipped a mirror in Lina's face and forced her to look at it.

The reflection was not one wanted to be seen, but one that needed to be acknowledged.

Using sexuality as both a defence and weapon, Lina could see Marcus's point that she sought a lover when the confidence she so preciously built took a knock, or she was reminded again that her life was on a constant pedestal.

Lina was never allowed just to be Lina.

Born with a title, a name and predetermined expectations, Lina sunk her teeth into the one thing that she could control, her body.

Taking partner after partner, Lina would be faced with the crushing defeat that she had only given them what they wanted while pretending it was Lina who was the only one who gained; and it never was.

Being in love with two men created a tug of war in Lina's chest, and so she flipped the coin again.

Catching it but never looking, Lina carried on around the room while deep in thought.

Mentally, emotionally and even physically exhausted by the last two years, Lina knew that it was selfish to think of only herself as a mother.

Marcus was Elias's father, something that could never be denied, not by their facial similarity and shared eyes; but would it be best to stay with him purely because of that, and that they were married?

Abbot was no longer married, and they only ever got a slither of a taste to what life together would be like between them if they did not have to do so in secret.

The coin flipped again.

Clutching it a little tighter when the office door opened, Lina only looked up to see who it was, before carrying on.

This was a decision best made alone and not tampered by the thoughts or persuasions of anyone else, but Lina let Marcus linger on the periphery of the room.

It was where Marcus always was, always somewhere just within sight, but not still within reach.

Faced before by a similar predicament between Marcus and Elijah over whether it was better to have what could not be kept, or have what could be kept, Lina smiled.

Lina was so determined to sabotage herself at every given chance.

Lina flipped the coin once again.

Everything boiled down to one little sentence, it could not be changed once spoken, and Lina's time to decide was narrowing.

Given only an hour to choose between two men who held Lina's heart and attention for very different reasons, Lina looked up when the door opened again.

Abbot.

The frosty reception between the two men turned the room into a fraught and uncomfortable place to be, but Lina continued.

The coin flipped.

Turning away from both men, Lina peeked at the coin face in the palm of her hand.

Assigning heads to Marcus, tails to Abbot, she closed the fingers over it, rubbing a thumb over the indentations.

It was not the side that it landed that would make the decision, but what Lina hoped it landed on that would.

In the precise moment that the coin would be tossed, Lina would know what she wanted.

Or instead who Lina wanted.

The decision making was as fickle as Lina's nature, and it fit her well.

Did Lina want to stay with Marcus and make it work?

There was the chance to make a proper try at a relationship with Abbot too.

Once more thinking about the fact that should Marcus and Lina have met under another set of circumstances that things would not have gone as they had, she laid the coin on her thumb.

Lina spent three years as Haines mistress, and she loved every moment of it, of the time spent with him.

Marcus met Lina the year after the war started, it was now in its third, and they barely managed to scrape a year and a half spent together as a couple.

More time was spent in argument, or another's bed than it ever was with Marcus, some through choice, others through duty.

Lina tried to tell herself that fidelity was not something that she was capable of. Still, Marcus made it startlingly clear that morning on the garden steps, that it was her fear of rejection that she kept multiple avenues open at all times.

They kept trying and trying and trying.

Marcus never did any wrong in the grand scheme of things; it was all Lina's doing.

The coin was flipped, and she took back her hand, watching it spin as it fell.

Lina turned away before it landed, mind made up she looked between the two men.

They were waiting on tenterhooks to know what Lina would say, what she would choose.

Both men facing Lina created a vacuum of air in the room like there was none to breathe.

Lina knew already what her heart wanted, and even though it felt torn in two, she smiled softly at them.

It was like they were standing on parade, rigid and poker-straight, their expressions showing nothing.

Carefully Lina slipped off the wedding ring on her hand and dropped it on the edge of the desk.

Marcus watched as the wedding ring-spun, clattering on the table lightly, the sound was far louder than it should have been.

"Could you give us a moment," Lina sat on the edge of the desk, crossing her legs and holding the lip of the table.

Haines's eyes closed, a slow inhale taken, he left.

Alone with Marcus, face to face, Lina took out the cigarette case from the pocket of the tailored blazer, opening it.

"I love you, Marcus. I will tell you that I do until I am blue in the face," Lina removed a single cigarette, placing it to her lips after tapping it on the case "I want to do this properly,"

Dangling on the tip of Lina's finger was her mother's wedding ring, the one that she was made to remove for her first wedding.

The second ring was a gift from the Fuhrer to commemorate Lina's defection from England, mark her as a married woman, and not just an engaged one.

Marcus took a step, reaching for the ring that spent many years on Lina's hand.

"I could say I am sorry for everything, but it doesn't change anything," Lina's words quivered, the tips of her fingers shaking as they pressed to Marcus's "I can only promise I won't do it again,"

Marcus slipped the ring on Lina's finger, closing his hand over hers when it was in place.

"If I have to lose you," Lina's voice became impossibly small "I don't want it to be for anything I have done,"

There was no guarantee of survival while the war was ongoing, a fact Lina knew far too well.

"I'm not going anywhere," Marcus touched a soft kiss on Lina's forehead, clinging tighter to their entangled fingers.


	91. Remember Me

Weeks of careful planning led to this very moment.

Overtaking the crew that were supposed to be Marcus's companions for the intended flight that would have taken them into Belgium, their redirection through France after a suspected fault with the fuel gauge brought them to be seconds away from landing on the airfields of Manston.

From the observatory seat, Lina's skin prickled in nervous anticipation of the landing.

There was utter faith that Marcus - Haines acting as co-pilot - would touch down safely, but Lina's threading heartbeat was for what was to come.  
Warning Marcus in advance that he would be detained upon landing would mean that they would be separated once again.

Since Marcus told Lina that he was aware of Haines' affair, their efforts to mend the tattered trust were slow due to Lina's work to keep up the appearance that she was a genuine defector.

It would only be six weeks they would be apart, but it would be six weeks too long.

Checking Elias was still asleep and under the effects of the mild sedative slipped in his bedtime bottle, Lina tucked him a little closer when the radio feed crackled in one ear, they were coming in for landing.

"Is everyone strapped down?" Haines inquired, fiddling with the panel above his head.

Peter was the only one who would have to hold on to something while they landed to save from being thrown about.

Confirming that they were all ready, Lina moved her legs when Peter sat down, looping a hand through to hold the chair.

They shared a little smile before Peter was bumped off the floor when the wheels hit the tarmac, knocking his head on the panel.

Lina took out a hand, cupping the back of Peter's head to cushion it a little from the jarring knocks that it was suffering.

The landing was a bumpy ride even for those who managed to take a seat.

Finally, traction took on the tarmac, and the plane started to wind down its speed until it was creeping along the runway, steering carefully into the turn.

"Everyone ok?" The message came from the radio control room; the voice welcomed many ears, except one person.

"Ah. God damn it!" Peter cried dismay "Jock you old bastard!"

Heart skipping many beats, Lina knew that she should have expected Jock to survive their brush with death all those months before.

A massive booming laugh filled their ears "Your wee Scottish bastard lives!"

Peter's face became a foul ired twist, the headset taken off and thrown across the floor.

Andy and Tinker held thumbs up to each other "Oh flower of Scotland!" They joined with Jock singing the Scottish national anthem, putting extra gusto into the lyrics as they did.

Sighing with a short shake of the head, Lina cradled Elias in one arm before starting to remove the headset, but she stopped when someone else came onto the feed.

Lina believed that it was only a stress-induced hallucination, possibly a delirium state from the flight for a short interval.

However, when they spoke again, Lina's throat snapped closed like a clam's shell, the pearl her breath as it was locked away within her chest.

Two and a half long years, Lina's motivation was the absence of this man who was speaking directly into her ear as if he was not some disembodied phantom.

"I think you've been a little lost, bluebird," There was a smile in his voice when he said it, acting natural and as if nothing was amiss.

Throwing off the headset, Lina handed Elias off to Peter, forcing the Heinkel door in a desperate flourish.

Jumping down onto the tarmac Lina ducked under the wing, the propellers no longer rotating she still stayed wide of them as she hurried to come around the front.

Expecting to find the MP's standing and waiting, Lina froze stiff when a face she had not seen -and thought she would never see again- broke apart from the men standing and waiting to arrest her husband.

Even at almost twenty-seven years old, Lina ran for her father just as she used to when she was two decades younger.

Throwing herself into his waiting arms, Lina clung so tightly to his shoulders that each finger begged for relief, but she wouldn't let go.

In April 1940, Lina saw her father's plane go down, but she never saw him eject.

Eyes scrunched closed Lina cared none for the matter of pride, she cried openly while clinging to her father.

"My precious girl," he father spoke soothingly, rubbing the back of her head "I am so sorry," making it known, stressing his woe for causing her so much grief within the four short words, he squeezed her that little bit tighter.

Confident that Lina was no longer breathing, utter confusion held her head in an ironclad grip - it was not her father who spoke over the radio "Vilem?"

Choking on his name, Lina dared not to bring her head up from where it was buried in her father's shoulders, too scared to look in case it was merely wishful thinking that someone sounded like Vilem, and just happened to be cruel in using the nickname he gave her.

Lowering Lina back to the tarmac, her father swept a hand around her face, cupping it before his eyes, still warm, if not a little more weathered, creased into a soft smile.

He didn't speak and only nodded to a point behind where they stood.

Trusting, and wanting for this moment not to be a resurgence of Lina's long put to bed naivety, she turned to look, never letting go of her father's hand as she did.

As confident as Lina was that she was alive, she saw Vilem die.

Yet, Vilem stood with the aid of a cane.

There was a soft limp in his step and a smile on his mouth.


	92. The bird who flew home

To what extent did Lina play the fool in the last two years of her life?

Learning that both father and brother - the very men who steered Lina on the course she was on - were both alive and well, was a stab in the gut she could not prepare for in these last few hours.

Worrisome from the second Lina stepped onto Geissen army depot with Elias, Marcus and the four men she was tasked to bring home, this was not the reception that was expected.

Fingers pinching in the sweating palms Lina stood on the tarmac of Manston airfield utterly confounded.

Elated, but irked, Lina knew that one of them needed to speak to break the tensions, but her tongue felt frail, too weak to move beyond her teeth.

Everything, absolutely everything, up until this moment Lina did it all for them.

Keeping Marcus, an enemy pilot, safely guarded all those months was to seek those who could either prove or disprove the accusations smeared on Vilem's name.

Though it came to light that the rat among them was far closer to home than first thought with the orchestrator of all that went wrong in Lina's life being their aunt Victoria, the rumours still swirled that Vilem was responsible for the deaths of thousands of allied men.

Fumbling with the clouded thoughts for some coherence, reluctant steps carried Lina across the tarmac, only a short distance from Vilem, she stopped.

Needing to make up her mind whether to be angry or relieved by the unforeseen turn of events, Lina roused her tongue from its stupor.

"I am going to hug you, "trembling over the words, Lina wiped both eyes with the heel of a hand "Then beat you. Ok?"

Vilem leant heavily on his right side, fingers flexing around the handle of the walking cane a sneer like a smile flickered across his face "Like I expected any less,"

Fighting with the smile that wanted to come free and shatter the confused frown on Lina's mouth, a few hurried steps took her into Vilem's waiting embrace.

Beneath the suit and Lina's arms, Vilem was slimmer, more skeletal than he ever had been.

Wondering how Vilem survived the point-blank shot delivered to himself, Lina checked the side of his head - a deep indentation of where a bullet skimmed was hiding in his hair.

Wanting to make real on the claim that Lina would beat Vilem after their embrace, she couldn't bring herself to do it with how delicate Vilem felt beneath her hands.

"Richard?!"

Abbot's startled yell broke the serene quiet of the airfield, and it safely confirmed that Lina was not in a state of delusion, but of lucid mind.

"Abbot," Richard returned the surprise, but with less enthusiasm "I see you're alive," he griped "Shame."

With a soft snort of laughter, both Vilem and Lina looked down at their shoes.

"I see nothing has changed," Abbot spoke smartly, if not sharply.

Coming out of the too-short embrace with Vilem, a hand stayed on his back, watching the bemused and - in the case of Tinker - white faces of the three others left on the Heinkel walk across the airfield.

Peter still held Elias in arms, the sedative wearing off his tiny hands rubbing both eyes.

For just a moment, fear gripped Lina.

In the months since their supposed deaths, Lina was married twice and gave birth to a son.

Lina could only imagine how much Vilem and their father knew of all that occurred in their deaths, and it caused worry that she would be a disappointment to them for her choices.

Glancing over to where Marcus stood without a show of confusion, but silently awaiting what was promised, Lina's heart plummeted to her stomach when her father brushed Abbot aside and approached Peter.

"I heard the stork paid you a visit," Richard spoke with some reservation, brow furrowed deeply "I suppose this handsome fella would be the delivery?"

Blessed that it was dark to hide the creeping heat that flashed across her face, Lina parted from Vilem slowly.

Elias was stirring and becoming a little agitated by being woken, there too was Peter's broken wrist trying to support a wriggling child which made Lina quicken her pace to reach them.

Though Lina was beaten to the retrieval of Elias by her father.

Picking Elias out of Peter's arms, Richard lay him carefully within his, well-practised to holding a small toddler, a smile stretched his bearded mouth.

"Scheibe!"

Face sinking behind a hand, Lina cursed the men when they sniggered at Elias's verbal annoyance of being woken a little too loudly.

Richard's brows shot upwards, before coming back down with a hearty laugh.

"Who taught him that?" Richard asked, inspecting the proudly beaming men who remained of his old squad.

"Course it was you bunch of vagabonds," Richard sighed with a small tut before looking at Lina "Son like his mother."

Not sure whether to take it as a reprimand or a polite reminder that Lina's first word in German was quite a little more unsavoury, she smiled back at her father apprehensively.

"Elias," Lina answered the silent question of her father "I named him, Elias."

Watching grandfather and grandson interact with smiles and warm laughter, Lina guessed the short-lived worry was pointless.

Showing no sign of disappointment over Elias, it left Lina to consider whether it was due to his being named Knud's heir both publicly and in private.

Once more searching for Marcus, a small smile was shown to him when their eyes met, and it was returned briefly.

"Buckler wasn't it?" Richard addressed Marcus without looking at him, too focused on Elias.

Marcus took a single forward step "That is correct, Sir."

Of equal rank, Marcus's formality to address Richard was misplaced in part, but all the same not with Richard's title.

Placing Elias back in Lina's care, Richard wore a fond smile, a hand petting Lina's head lightly.

"How Victoria hoped to pass him as Knud's is beyond me," Richard looked between Elias to Marcus "Then again, much of what she did is beyond me." 

Sour in tone, Richard's lip curled a little, like the mere fact he spoke Victoria's name was a bitter taste on his tongue. 

Apprehensive again now that Richard took open notice of Marcus, a glance went over to the gathered MP's - they looked in no rush to arrest Marcus. 

" You do not need to be so formal with me, boy," there was a slyness when Richard called Marcus a boy, their ages not too far apart" Though I suppose you never thought you would be meeting your father in law," 

Stomach pinched, Lina made a short shuffle of her feet. 

Unable to tell if her father was displeased or not by Lina's choice to marry Marcus, there was a slither of hope that he would at least be civil. 

Marcus made a motion of agreement with a slight nod of the head, but his posture stayed as it always did - prideful and strong. 

Richard crooked two fingers, calling Marcus forward before setting the hand with the other at the base of his back. 

Coming forward as asked, Marcus only broke eye contact with Richard when Elias grabbed him with an excitable" Papa!" 

Tiny hands grabbing air in Elias's want to be held by Marcus, there was no hesitation when Marcus took him from Lina.

Silently celebrating Elias's timing, Lina could not hide the smile when Elias laid his head on Marcus's shoulder, a little hand clinging tightly to the lapel of his flight jacket. 

Assured that her father would not harm Marcus the whole time he held his grandson, Lina resumed the nail-biting wait to find out what was about to happen. 

Richard did not falter in his stoicness, matching Marcus closely in their war of poker straight faces, until Richard bowed forward enough to speak into Marcus's ear. 

Not knowing the whispering context did nothing to settle Lina, and in fact, only made the worry worse and left a nauseous bubble in her stomach when Marcus's eyes fluctuated in size. 

Open like a surprised and staring owl for a little too long, Marcus narrowed them swiftly when Richard straightened up. 

Not wanting to be too presumptuous and think that more bad news was awaiting them, Lina swallowed the lump in her throat, the edges of it serrated and scored her throat as it descended to her quivering stomach. 

Never once thinking that she would see both father and brother again, Lina could only hope that their coming out of hiding were good omens. 

Struck down one too many times by bad luck and ill fortune, Lina wanted for the streak to be at its end. 

" I think house arrest is a fair compensation for your assistance in bringing our men home," Richard held his chin in thought "My daughter, and grandson too," the hand came free to point at them both respectively. 

Taking a few minutes to make sure that Lina heard her father correctly, a fathomless blink was returned. 

House arrest would detail a watch on Marcus's residence, which meant, should Lina's understanding be correct, that he could stay with Elias and herself. 

Richard made a short incline of the head, proving that Lina's belief was right. 

At once wanting to celebrate the news, Lina kept composure, eyes keenly focused on her father when a smile broke the tension of his mouth. 

Bending down and placing a kiss on Lina's head, Richard held her face in his hands "Welcome home, Bluebird," 


	93. Two Sides of The Same Coin

Taken to a small village in Sandwich, Kent, it was quietly idyllic.

Sprawling gardens, a small apple orchard, stables, it was a perfectly serene environment for Elias.

Not even the round the clock watch could mar the peaceful place.

For so long wanting quiet and safe, Lina felt at peace with everything she had done until the night she landed back safely in England.

This was the home Lina long ago gave up on ever obtaining.

Walking barefoot through the grass, Lina gave one last over the shoulder check on Elias.

"How old is he?"

Assured that Elias was safe in the hands of their father, Lina focused on Vilem's question.

"He was a year in May," they were in July, and the summer looked as though it would be a warm one "Elias Barnaby,"

Making true on the promise to honour Barnaby, the middle name was officially added in the week before Lina left for France.

Vilem's walk was slow but steady, the near-miss with his suicide attempt leaving more than a scar on Lina's heart.

Absent the cane that morning, Vilem asked if they could take a walk, leaving their father behind to make up for lost time with Elias.

"Barnaby Rogers, I presume is his namesake?" Vilem stopped to pull down an apple from one of the trees, chucking it at Lina.

Catching it in one hand, Lina polished it on her blouse, a small hiccup in her chest at the mention of Barnaby "Sure is," she managed a laugh "Git asked as he was going down in flames," she took a bite of the apple "Couldn't say no,"

Vilem rubbed the apple picked for himself on his shirt, a small smirk on his face "Sounds just like him,"

Gazing at Vilem's profile while he stood among the apple trees, it came back to Lina how surreal it was that he was there.

There was so much that happened in Vilem's absence that Lina wanted him to be there for, and many moments where she needed him to be her brother.

Five years older, Vilem was more than Lina's impossibly stupid brother, he was her best friend,

"I was keeping tabs on you this whole time," Vilem paused to bite the apple in his hand "You never change," he shook his head, but there was a faint smile on his mouth "I envy that about you,"

Stopping mid-bite, Lina lowered the apple with a sharp curve of her brow "Envy me?" Never did Lina think that she would ever hear Vilem admit such a thing.

Taking a crunching bite of the apple, Vilem held it at his chest, looking off down the orchard in pondering.

"You just get back up and carry on regardless of what happens," Vilem spoke once his mouth was free "It's enviable how you manage it,"

Considering Vilem's opinion with some scepticism, Lina wore a whimsical smile.

In trying times, they were either get up and do, or lay down and die.

"I wouldn't be envious," Lina looked down at her feet as she walked "I have done many things I wish I never had to do,"

Being kind to Vilem's new gait, Lina moved in a meander between the apple trees, the soft chirping of birds taking away the background silence with their pretty songs.

"I am aware of some," Vilem ducked under a branch. "We have all faced hard choices in these last couple of years. Yet, nothing leaves a visible mark on you,"

Appetite lost, Lina tossed the apple away.

Never wanting Vilem or even their father to know the secrets Lina harboured, a soft shake of head refuted the idea that she was unscathed.

"I hide it well," Lina tucked back her hair, bringing her eyes up from the grass "That is all,"

Lina lost friends and shattered Marcus's trust through her selfishness; for a long spell, she even thought that her father and brother were gone too.

Every single thing left a mark on her skin; it mapped her veins like an unseen poison releasing slowly into her mind and spirit.

Vilem laughed heartily "Always wearing a mask," he mused "Never wanting to be seen for who you are," ending with a short sigh, he too threw away his apple.

For a moment irritated by being read so easily by Vilem, it washed away in a serene exhale.

Lina was only mad because Vilem was right.

Never allowing anyone to get too close, but always waiting for someone to try.

Precisely what Marcus attempted, with resounding success.

Plausibly it was why Lina became hellbent on trying to ruin what they had, because as Marcus once said, being vulnerable scared her.

Looking off across the orchard, Lina wanted to deflect the conversation's direction back on to Vilem. 

Beyond Vilem's false suicide, there were the still current rumours of his actions leading to the sinking of three allied ships by u-boats. 

" People were whispering that you were the cause of thousands of deaths," there was no tactical way to address the matter beyond being direct" What happened?" 

Vilem stopped walking. 

Facing Vilem more directly, Lina watched the echo of a bitter regret flash over his visage, before it fell away to a complacent acceptance. 

" I had a contact from Berlin who was working for our government come to me, telling me of what was going on in the camps," 

There was a resolute disgust in Vilem when he mentioned the camps, and Lina understood why. 

" There was to be a train full of gipsy people, among others, taken to one, and he asked for my help to take them from Poland to safety." 

Heart sinking rapidly, Lina knew in part what was done to prevent the plan's success - Marcus intercepted the three ships' coordinates. 

" We could not come too far into Poland's waters, but we managed to find those willing to help transport them out to see during the night," 

Vilem ran a hand up the back of his head, tilting it back to stare up at the clear skies above. 

" I had the Arethusa and two others in a position to act as a defence," he laid a hand on his forehead" They let us do it. Let those people believe that they were safe, that they would live," 

The hand on Vilem's forehead formed a fist; mouth twisted miserably. 

" Six torpedoes, two for each ship, and thousands of men, women and children dead," both arms spread wide in a show of helplessness, Vilem stared at her" There was nothing I could do. I just had to listen to the desperate screams of all those people who I intended to help, die." 

Seeing the anguish in Vilem's eyes over what came of his efforts to help, Lina covered the tremble of her lips with a hand. 

Did Marcus know that he was the man, single-handedly, responsible for thousands of deaths? 

Under no illusion that they were at war and that death was unavoidable, Marcus's actions were the catalyst of a massacre of innocent souls. 

Thinking about the facts known against the ones learnt, it was impossible that Vilem did not hold at least an inkling that Marcus - his brother in law - was the man who caused his efforts to aid innocent lives, to fail. 

Conflicted by the knowledge of knowing both sides of the two men's shared coin, Lina curled down the fingers that covered the wobble of her mouth. 

Vilem's gaze became vacant and hollow, like the memory of what was done stole the essence of his soul. 

" I hear them still," Vilem whispered, drilling a finger to his temple" Begging for someone to save them. It never stops." 

Harrowed, openly, by the ever-present memory, Vilem clenched his hand to a fist, thumping it on his thigh. 

" It wasn't your fault, Vilem," seeing how badly it tortured his mind believing that it was, Lina cupped his cheek, thumb sliding beneath one eye when a tear escaped" You tried to help. You could not have known what was going to happen," 

Vilem's efforts were earnest and with good intention, but they ended in disaster. 

A fact Vilem could not hold himself accountable for, no matter how much he believed that he should be. 

" You tried Vilem, their blood is not on your hands," making soft assurances that Vilem was not to blame. 

"Haines, you miserable bastard," 

Richard's voice was closer than expected, and Lina smiled softly when Vilem faced away with a quick sniff and a rough wipe of his eyes.

Squeezing Vilem's shoulder while he settled himself, Lina glanced down the orchard where her father, Abbot, Elias and Marcus were standing.

Lina's affair with Haines was kept under tight lock and key from Richard when she was still only nineteen.

Now, Lina could only pray that nothing would be said about their more recent dalliance's should Marcus or Haines suffer a slip of the tongue while in her father's company.

Sensing a need to separate Marcus and Haines before a chance could arise for their tongues to become loose, Lina first made sure that Vilem was ok to be on his own.

"I don't need coddling," Vilem pushed a shoulder, forcing Lina to step away.

Poking out her tongue, Lina smiled when Vilem flicked her forehead.

Taking it as a sign that Vilem as well, Lina set a brisk but not too obvious pace for the three men. 

Being sure to come alongside Marcus when arriving into the trio, Lina averted her eyes when Haines caught them. 

"I told you already that was not the case," visually as stressed as he was verbal, Haines stood with his arms folded. 

Attention grasped when it looked more official matters under discussion, Lina peered up at Marcus, hoping to gain some insight. 

There was a twitch on the corner of Marcus's mouth that suggested he was irritated by something. 

The slap on Lina's head forced her to look up; a hand raised to thwart a second attempt brushed what felt like a paper piece. 

Held taut in Haines' hand was a letter.

Taking it with reservation, Lina saw the arrogant smile Haines turned on Marcus, and it left her in no illusion that the context of the envelope was not going to be good news.

Opening it, Lina at first thought nothing of it, until noticing Marcus's agitation. 

The letter was written in French. 

Casting a wary eye on Abbott, the smile he returned was sly and cunning; he knew that Marcus could not read or speak French. 

Sensing that it was an underhanded method to sow doubt, Lina thought at first that Haines wrote it, but after skimming the first paragraph, it became apparent that she thought wrong. 

Folding the letter up, Lina passed it through her fingers, pinching along its creases. 

"Otto Von Trapp," it came out bitterly, slicing her tongue with every letter of his name" Is an agent of the crown," 

Thinking now that Lina should have checked that Otto received his turn from the firing squad, a level stare was set on Haines. 

" We were duped," Haines agreed." Our silent entry to France and subsequent hiring was no mistake," the wily nature of Haines' smile became a bitter twist. 

Otto was a double agent, seeking out Toulouse just as they had been. 

Except a misunderstanding came somewhere between communication lines, Otto was intended to be an ally, never an enemy. 

" Victoria intercepted and placed the idea that we were willingly working for Germany to retrieve the intelligence Toulouse left," 

They were playing with each other the whole time, but with the same end goal in mind.

Which meant Paul's, Winters and Jackson's deaths were nothing more than a cruel twist of fate. 

Should Victoria not have interfered, all three men would still be alive, and the time spent in Belgium and Germany would not have occurred. 

Even knowing that Otto was moving under orders he believed was in Britain's best interest, it did not change the fact Lina wanted to deny the act of kindness he was asking of her.

When Lina spun the lie to free Marcus, there was actual truth in it when she labelled Otto, a turncoat. 

The irony was bittersweet. 

" He is asking for my verdict to prove that he was acting in the best interest of the Empire, and the crown while in Paris," this time looking up at Marcus as she spoke, a finger curled around one of his, holding it gently. 

Lina would act depending on Marcus's answer. 


	94. White Tower

Walking through the Tower of London's main gate, the Beefeaters - officially the Yeoman Warders - stepped aside from the White Tower entrance.

The caw of the famed Ravens who supposedly could decide Britain's fate should they leave the Tower echoed within the stone keep.

Free to roam, a minimum of six kept in the Tower at all times, their wings clipped to ensure their flights were nothing more than a short glide.

If they left the Tower, the Crown would fall, and Britain with it.

Not alone for the official meeting that would decide Otto Von Trapp's fate, the lead executioner, Albert Pierrepoint was also in attendance.

Acquainted due to Albert's services to the Crown, and that of his father, Henry, and Uncle Thomas also being official executioners, the meeting was not one to share small talk.

"Your Highness," Albert did not bow, but he dipped his head in a partial one.

"Pierrepoint," returning the socially dictated greeting, Lina chose to remain in her coat, she hoped that the meeting would be short.

It was only meant to be a short one to gain insight into what Otto wanted and find out all they could.

Even Albert's presence was merely to listen as an unbiased party to ensure there was no conspiring.

Not that there would even be the entertainment of such a thing.

Speaking with Marcus shortly after the letter arrived, there was still a grey area of how Otto avoided his death while in Germany.

Only able to assume that someone came to Otto's aid and set him free, the decision to deny him any help was mutually agreed.

There was a certain point or two that Lina kept tight-lipped regarding Otto, but it would seem that mentioning them would come to some benefit.

For if Otto could prove that he acted with good intention, there would at least be something that could see the end of his military career.

Room set up for the debate of points rather than a secretly held court, Lina could see the secret service spokesman was a too familiar face.

"Elijah," noticeably absent from the list of those who successfully returned from Belgium, it was a slip of memory that left Elijah on the wayside of concerns "A promotion?"

Dressed in the attire of a freshly awarded Major, Elijah stood proud and with the posture of a man who would never be thought to be the fiendish pest that Lina came to know.

"Last month. A reward for returning with the paintings I suppose," Elijah spoke in a polite but official voice rather than the dialect riddled one spoke with her in private "Though it was not achieved alone, I seem to have been one considered,"

If Elijah was now a Major, it meant they were of equivalent ranks in their respective military branches.

"Don't pretend to be humble about it," Lina muttered under breath "You didn't earn it."

Sweeping Elijah aside with a hand, Lina took her seat.

Major Elijah on Lina's left, and Air Commodore Haines - recently appointed - on her right.

Sitting between the two worst possible choices of men for the talks that were about to be held, Lina sat straight, facially vacant when the opposing door was opened, and Otto was led into the room.

Their eyes met and locked on one another.

Wishing Otto's death all those months before when he actioned Marcus's arrest and threatened Elias's life, the sentiment was still the same.

"Take a seat," indicating the chair opposite Haines would lead with the speaking "Lieutenant." Addressing Otto by his ranking, Haines remained poised, and with the same astute smile, he always wore.

Shamefully, Otto looked to be well kept, not even a shadow of a bruise or wince from an old wound upon his visage.

"May I smoke?" Otto asked with relaxed confidence, already lighting the cigarette before it was granted permission.

Arrogant, and a wily man, it was Otto's poor execution of his mental planning that let him down and took the chance for him to be labelled a brilliant mind.

"If you insist," Elijah sat back with a fold of his arms.

Otto took the cigarette out his mouth, exhaling the thick curling cloud while tucking a thumb beneath his chin "I am surprised you answered my call, your highness," there was a benign smile on his lips, but it did not match with the glint of his eyes "Though I sup—!?"

"Suppose that your paying me and using me as a fuck on a tap would have me crawling back?" Lina cut in before Otto got his foot in the door for what was about to be made a little more publicly known.

"If you could only transmute that energy from the bedroom into your other brain, you would not be sitting here, and certainly not be asking for my help."

Otto's tongue skimmed his teeth.

"You failed to collaborate the information passed to you which resulted in the time allotted to retrieve the paintings being extended-," Lina held up a hand when Otto made an interrupt.

The plan to let Haines do the speaking dashed when Otto attempted to become sly with Lina it was her who led the talk.

"Which resulted in the deaths of not only undercover agents of the Crown but the death of Wing Commander Thompson at your hands, the capture and execution of Flight lieutenants Daniel Winters and Richard Jackson,"

Bringing down the hand to lay over the one kept on the table, Lina did not break the intense staring competition with Otto.

"You then threatened the life of the heir apparent of Denmark, and raped me."

Until that moment, Lina kept that detail to herself.

"I will tie that noose for you myself," Lina lifted a hand to point to where Albert sat at the head of the table "If the honour was not his,"

Otto's cigarette was seconds shy from burning his fingers, but he failed to notice, not even when the curve of ash fell on the table.

"I am not the one who will decide whether you shall hang," Lina placed a hand on the table standing up a careful lean brought her across the table and into Otto's face "But I will do my damned best to ensure it,"

Their eyes never left the prolonged contact, though where Otto's were painted in a clash of anger and fear, Lina maintained a coldly determined storm within hers.

"If fate shines on you and you walk free, I will take great pleasure in gutting you," making the promise in a croaking whisper while plucking the cigarette out his shaking fingers Lina stubbed it out in the ashtray "Mon amore."

Withdrawing from the table Lina resumed her seat, allowing tunnel vision to keep the men either side out of her focus.

Flicking open the cigarette case stolen from Otto when leaning over to his side of the table, Lina took one and lit it.

Crossing one arm to hold the other's crook, Lina returned the reigns to Haines to speak with Otto and hear out the plea he intended to make to be spared the death penalty.

Pulling on the edges of the suit jacket, Haines sat forward on the table, one hand nestled in the other.

"In your interview you stated a man you believed to be a trusted source informed you that the agent sent to locate Toulouse was actually working for Germany," Haines brought out the pages of Otto's statement, tossing them down on the table between them. "But you failed to give us a name. Why?"

Without his smokes and aware that Lina would not come to his aid, Otto's usually collected, arrogant confidence was shaken.

"He said his name was Montgomery," Otto shrugged "It sounded like a codename rather than an actual one,"

Sitting a little straighter Lina paid closer attention to the discussion.

Flaxon was a snake, but Lina could not imagine he would travel into enemy territory to cause Lina more misery.

Though the longer Lina stewed on the idea, it didn't seem so far fetched.

"Was the blonde or dark-haired?" Lina cut in again, balancing the wrist of the hand holding the cigarette on the table edge "Or even wearing glasses?"

Otto turned an embittered look on Lina "Glasses and dark-haired, about fifty I would guess," another shrug lifted a shoulder.

"Jeter?" Elijah asked in a whisper sitting forward like the other two, conferring quietly with them.

There was no reason to believe it was Jeter, as Montgomery was still a possible codename.

"I don't think anyone with half a mind would handover their actual name," Haines disagreed.

Biting on the tip of a thumb, Lina went off in thought.

Jeter despised Victoria for forcing his divorce from Mila and assigning him a new wife, Viscountess of Weymouth, Clementine, some eighteen years ago.

There was no way Jeter would aid Victoria, not without tremendous stress placed upon him.

Could Victoria have threatened Luis or Flaxon's lives as she had with Lina's?

The old woman had been wicked, a master of manipulating people to do her bidding, so it was not inconceivable.

"The old bat is dead now," Lina said it quite happily.

"So if it were him there would be no one to either confirm or deny it was due to Victoria pulling strings," taking the thumb out her mouth, Lina nodded to Otto "And he will say anything to get himself off the gallows,"

Haines concurred that it would be too convenient to place Jeter in front of Otto.

On the other hand, there would be a chance to look into whether Jeter had any unexplained absences as he worked in the medical college, London Hospital.

It was within the Tower Hamlets, just as the Tower itself was.

Though much of what formed the east end of London was damaged from the air raids, the hospital was still functional, and from the last time Lina saw her uncle, he was still teaching at the hospital.

"I can pay him a visit," Lina suggested, drawing a long breath on the cigarette "I do not need to be here for this," crushing out the smoke in the ashtray, her eyes dropped to look at her hands "I've said all that needs to be said."

In truth, Lina only came to ensure that enough was said to weigh the favour that Otto did not act in the interest of the Empire and Crown as he claimed.

Revealing Otto's threat to Elias, and the subsequent rape of Lina that followed would not aid him when Otto was taken to a court-martial.

Due to Otto's military affiliation, he would not have his case overseen by a public court ruling, but rather a body of those from the military courts.

Haines glanced to Elijah, a short conversation happening within their silent stares.

"Go with her," Haines ordered, sitting back within his chair "I will remain here."

Checking Haines profile, Lina could see a fit of silent seething anger within his eyes, the muscles in his jaw flexing.

A little too keenly focused on Otto and absent the usual careful composure, Haines was apparent in Otto's anger.

Worried about what Haines could do, something should be left alone with Otto; a hand settled on Haines's shoulder when Lina stood up, a whisper made into his ear.

Adjusting in the chair a little, Haines' head turned to better listen to Lina.

Should Haines do anything, it would place him at risk of being in his own court-martial but could mean he faced an execution of his own.

"Either promise you will not do anything," Lina tightened the hand on Haines's shoulder, pinching it "Or I will pull rank and order you to leave,"

Haines outranked Lina within the Air Force, but she held a prestige level that would allow her to have Haines removed from interviewing Otto.

Haines swivelled a look up at Lina, the echo of a smile on his face "I promise."

Assured, even if only a little, that leaving Haines with Otto would be a safe option, Lina let go of his shoulder.

With Elijah as company, it would work out best for meeting with Jeter as the two men were apparently familiar.

It was why Lina sarcastically called for him by his newly observed rank.

Departing the room with Elijah in Lina's shadow, the single Crown on his shoulder that marked him as a Major made her want to laugh.

"When were you last in active duty?" Lina asked, finally taking notice that she had stolen Otto's cigarette case from the room, it was pocketed.

Elijah walked alongside Lina with a short snorting laugh coming from him.

"I was active right up until I met you," he responded dryly "Through injury, I was returned home and placed within the intelligence offices, but I originally was a para,"

Remembering that Elijah mentioned in passing to Marcus that he was a PT nothing more than a shrug and a lack of interest was given.

Mainly for believing it to be another of Elijah's lies.

"So was this a delayed promotion?" Lina asked, "Does that mean you were already fair in rank within the airforce before you changed to the army?"

Elijah took off the cap, tucking it under an arm as they departed the white tower "I was based at Brize Norton, two squadron," he ran a hand through his hair, resetting it to its more laid back style from the one that was a replica of Marcus's daily styling.

"I was supposed to be detached to General Wavell in Egypt some time ago, but I was approached by the intelligence offices and assigned to you," becoming more relaxed as they walked, Elijah stopped short of unbuttoning the blazer.

Haines spoke of arranging a watch of some sort being made for Lina the year before, Elijah being a member of it.

"You were still limping back then, right?" Crossing the Tower's grounds, Lina peered at the leg from memory that caused Elijah to walk with a small limp.

From their very last time speaking to one another, and even when they reunited in Germany, things between them were fraught.

Elijah kicked forward the leg that had been injured "It's healed now," he wiggled the ankle before dropping it and resuming walking.

Lina made a thoughtful nod "Is it?"

Abruptly cutting a foot between Elijah's well-contained laughs became trapped within Lina's hand when she cupped her mouth.

Elijah tripped all legs and arms in to the grassy area beside the path, a heavy thump sounding with his less than controlled landing.

"I thought Para's were trained to perfect their landings?" One hand out in a gesture of wondering, Lina's head tipped to the side.

Turned over and trying to recuperate swiftly, Elijah stayed sitting on the grass for a short time; one arm was thrown over a knee, a soft scowl on his handsome face.

"From a plane." Elijah threw his cap at Lina, though it was more playful than vicious "We're not trained to recover from being tripped up,"

Catching the cap, Lina spun it on a finger "Well Major Elijah, you could suggest it for their training," an eyebrow and shoulder lifted in unison, teasing Elijah as he stood up again.

Waiting while Elijah clapped the grass and leaves from his uniform, Lina pressed upon the tips of her shoes to reach Elijah and swing the cap back on his head - though he ducked a little to receive it - a hand sweeping aside his fringe to bring his aesthetic back to a presentable state.

"If I'm going to be stuck with you for the afternoon," taking Elijah's chin between finger and thumb, Lina used it to wag his head side to side "Don't be a sourpuss,"

A smile, cheeky, but somewhat reluctant, spread Elijah's lips out of their irritating twist. The mischievous twinkle that lived within his gaze becoming prominent, Lina smiled back at Elijah.

Things were not left in the best way between them, but if, as said, they were going to be stuck together for a time, Lina did not want it to be a tense affair.

Once more resuming the walk to exit the Tower, they were side by side, a comfortable -rather than tense- silence between them.

A hand in pocket Lina pulled out the cigarette case, offering one to Elijah, before taking one for herself.

Elijah cupped the small flame of the lighter, waiting for Lina to light hers, a careful lean and a deep inhale the purplish cloud escaped her lips softly.

Cracking the lid of the lighter down, Elijah pocketed it before taking the smoke within finger and thumb, spitting away a piece of tobacco left on his tongue.

"Do you think Jeter met him?"

Kept from answering while passing the security to leave the Tower, Lina held up both arms when the Yeoman Warder asked her too, patting down the coat and pockets.

Allowed to pass, Lina let her arms fall to her sides again, waiting for Elijah to be cleared to leave, it let her think on the question.

The chances that it was Jeter were very slim, to the extent of nonexistent. Yet, it could not be dismissed as a desperate plea of a man who would say anything to live.

If Otto trusted the source, it meant that on previous occasions that the man supplied accurate information.

"I want to believe that it is not Jeter," waiting until they were back among the citizens of London, Lina took a moment to peer out over the Thames "But until I speak with him, I can't be sure,"

Familial betrayal within the Mountbatten house was widespread, and so Lina did not want to fall on naive hope that it had not happened again.

With Victoria executed some months before Lina returned to England, there was hope that it would be the last of her family-related problems.

To be greeted with Vilem and their father like Lina was on her arrival back in Manston was the only good surprise her family managed to achieve in the last two years.

"Over there," Elijah held out an arm, pointing away from the Thames "Was the orphanage I grew up in,"

Following Elijah's direction, Lina's heart became confused in its beating "You were an orphan?"

Elijah never made mention to his youth, not once, until now.

"My mum was a nurse in the Great War, and my father a soldier," Elijah lowered the arm, drawing on the cigarette "They died when I was six, I had no surviving family," he shrugged "So I was sent to the orphanage."

Trying to imagine how it must have felt to lose not only one, but both of his parents in quick succession, Lina's heart sunk.

Lina's father had fought in Verdun, back then only a soldier and not a pilot.

Born in 1915, Lina was only a baby during the Great War, and with her father away, it wasn't until the January of 1917, when he was allowed leave, that Lina finally was placed in his arms.

Lina was graced with the presence of her mother for some years before illness claimed her.

"That must have been difficult?" Many war orphans, hundreds in fact, but Lina never placed too much thought on if she knew any.

Even now, many children would never know their fathers or see them again.

Wives became widows daily, and some never made it even to be wives.

Lina too felt that pain.

Elijah scratched the back of his head, the arm coming down he did not take his eyes from the red-bricked orphanage.

The gated grounds held children of varying ages running around and playing, some standing alone.

Watching them, Lina wondered how many knew why they were there, and how many wanted to go back to a set of arms that would never hold them again.

Once more certain that motherhood made Lina softer of heart, she snapped her eyes away.

"It was what it was," Elijah aired with a sense of detachment "There was nothing I could do about it,"

Viewing Elijah differently, Lina considered that his methods of attention were an aftereffect of losing his parents.

The sense of not wanting to be alone, Lina could understand.

"You were born in Lincolnshire, weren't you?" Able to recall the details in Elijah's file, a small smile lifted the corners of her mouth when he looked at her.

Behind Elijah's warm and often playful eyes, was an unspoken pain, hidden behind his Jack's mask the lad persona.

"I was," stuffing the cigarette in the corner of his mouth, Elijah folded his arms "Don't know why they sent me down to this shit hole, but-," his broad shoulders lifted in a nonchalant shrug "-, I had no choice but to go where they sent me."

Elijah lost the accent, but never the dialect.

From time to time, it would slip out, but not often.

"Would you move back up there?" Lina knew well the pull of the place where the years of youth were lived; it was why Dover was still a special place in her heart.

Running a thumb parallel to his jaw, Elijah's eyes became warmer while he was lost in thought.

"In a heartbeat," Elijah took the cigarette from his mouth, rolling it over his fingers "It will always be home to me,"

Resuming the walk again, Lina could understand the sentiment.

Born and raised in Dover, only her mother's death saw them move to London.

Though London was where Lina spent more years of her life, it never fulfilled her.

Lina was a town girl, never a city.

"Will you go back once this is over?"

Speaking about the war, Lina stuck close to Elijah's side as the traffic of people became heavier.

Throwing the cigarette into a storm drain, Elijah looked over the East End's skyline, a thumb flicking out at it when he turned to Lina.

"Would you stay here?" He asked, a little sarcastic.

The East End had suffered a lot with the air raids. The strife of the war dragging on showed within the people.

"Not a chance," Lina shook her head, dropping her cigarette, "I think I will go back to Dover,"

Though it was yet to be discussed with Marcus, Lina was adamant that she would return to her childhood home.

Even if it was only a temporary residence.

With Vilem and their father alive, it brought the right of succession to the house's head in some controversy.

As it was now, Richard, and not Lina was supposed to be the titleholder, Vilem succeeding it.

Truthfully, Lina would not think twice about passing over the responsibilities, but her father was showing reluctance to take it, and Vilem was in no way ready for the stress that came with it.

In part, the want to pass over the seat was because of the refusal to accept Lina's marriage to Marcus as legitimate.

Their union was not approved by either house or Crown and was not legally recognised by court or state.

Well aware that Marcus's affiliations with Germany were the cause, it was none too pleasing to have their marriage not recognised.

"I imagine after the tribulations with your family, somewhere quiet would be welcome," Elijah ended up walking along the edge of the road when the crowd thickened, and they were forced to step over.

"If I could divorce my family I would," Lina grumbled "You can pick your friends, but never your family," she stroked her brow in some stress "And apparently I pissed someone off upstairs to end up with the lot I did,"

Elijah laughed into a hand, turning away to hide that he was.

"You're nothing like I expected you to be," Elijah mentioned, clearing his throat a little.

"When they told me I would be watching the Princess of Greece and Denmark, I thought I would be dealing with a pompous woman," he admitted with a nonplussed tilt of his head "Not a sarcastic arsehole."

Lina leant in on Elijah's shoulder when he spoke his surprise "I like to defy expectations," she poked his cheek "And I never fail to do so,"

Lina was never one for a life of pomposity and waited on hand and foot; she thrived on breaking the rules and expectations.

Elijah trapped Lina's finger in hand, guiding her off the pavement and into the road where he was walking.

"I noticed you march to your own beat," letting the finger go Elijah tucked her in under his arm, the hand curling around to flick her cheek lightly "You're as stubborn as a mule,"

Not taking it to heart, Lina walked pleasantly under Elijah's arm "Mules kick by the way," she stroked her chin "I could send you to play in the traffic,"

There were barely any cars on the road, only the buses and even they were few and far between.

"I would take you to play with me," the arm around Lina's shoulder held on to her more firmly, Elijah came in close, placing a kiss on her head.

Though Lina should have made it clear that it was not appropriate, it was how Elijah did it that made it more a friendly exchange, than intimate.

"Try it, and you will be singing soprano," warning Elijah in a jestful manner, Lina dug an elbow into his ribs, forcing him to relinquish his arm around her shoulders.

Batting away the arm, Elijah flicked the tip of her nose "Leave my balls where they are," he stepped around to stand in front, a small and playful smirk on his mouth.

Rubbing the tip of her nose, Lina made a mock scowl "I want them in a jar," she took away the hand, moving it in a wide arc "They would make a nice accompaniment to my mantelpiece,"

Snorting softly, Elijah shook his head "They make a nice accompaniment to my body," he stood straight, arms folded "I rather like them where they are," He added with a firm nod.

Stepping back up onto the pavement, Lina caught herself before agreeing that they were best where they were, fingers pinching her lips closed when a slip of the tongue came a little too close.

Talking with Elijah as Lina was, there was a sense of nostalgia for their playful back and forths from when they first met.

Head shaking as if it would dislodge the renewed interest for Elijah; she dropped her gaze to the pavement.

Glancing up when Elijah's polished boots stood toe to toe with Lina's heels, a soft thudding in her chest starting in the way Elijah was looking at her.

Lina promised Marcus that she would be faithful this time, and Lina knew that it would be the last time that Marcus would place his trust within her.

Yet, even knowing that this was the last chance to prove to Marcus that she could stay faithful to him, her head tilted to receive Elijah's kiss. 


	95. Butterflies

She stopped. Doubled over to hold both knees as they trembled.

"Christ on a bike!"

Panting, terribly short of breath, Lina wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Now that's a sight I would love to see."

She slapped him. Sarcastic fuelled wit was not about to help them.

Running through the blacked-out east end of London was not how Lina foresaw the night going, but alas, that was what she was doing, or had been.

Arriving at the Hospital to speak with Jeter, they found him in one of the wards leading a lecture to eager-eyed students.

Deciding to wait until Jeter was free to speak came to an abrupt end.

Nose pointing through the closed curtains behind, two shots were fired into Jeter's back.

He was alive, barely.

Giving chase once the shock passed, they ran through the Hospital's halls and out the doors where the deceased were collected for burial.

Blackout in full effect, they ran after the shadow of the man who fired the gun until they lost him down a side alley.

A backwards step ended with an accidental kick to a bin, the metal clang echoing around them.

Hands taken off the knees, they held Lina's burning sides "Fuck!"

Never seeing the face of their shooter, they would be searching for a needle in a haystack.

Somewhere opposite, Elijah huffed for breath, just as exhausted as she.

With no way to see the time and no torches, they could have been running for minutes or even hours.

"There is no way we are going to find him," Elijah confirmed, defeat echoing in his voice, Lina felt it "If it was him."

In the fact of espionage, only a fool would assume that only men were the ones who undertook it.

"Well," a hand came away, pointing down the alley "We can hope someone in the hospital saw them,"

They were not subtle in their charge through the corridors and wards, and they certainly were not quiet.

Not a single doctor, nurse or patient attempted to stop the fleeing suspect, all of them too surprised by the person crashing through with two more on their heels.

Surprise or not, at least one person could tell them if it were a man or woman they were chasing.

"What should we do?" Elijah asked, breath back under some control the clack of his boots on the cobblestones alerting Lina that he was coming closer.

Beyond returning to the Hospital to check that Jeter was alive, nothing else could be done until the daylight hours.

Stepping from the wall, Lina stretched out a hand to avoid walking straight into Elijah.

She found him. Or at least his chest.

"We should head back," Lina suggested, eyes narrowed and straining to get an idea of what part of the east end they were in.

Something hard to do when it was pitch black and stood in an alley without an idea of where within the east end it was.

Coming to stand side by side, their hands connected to be sure they would not lose one another.

Many saw the blackened streets as a chance to prey on people and perpetuate their criminal desires.

Being caught alone by any who would want to enact their unlawful deeds was not on Lina's agenda that night.

Feeling across the wall to find the alley's end, Lina at least could remember that they entered the passage from the left.

"This way," tugging on Elijah's hand while taking the corner, Lina made a shuffling step to the right.

Before running into the alley, she clipped something solidly that sent a pain shooting up her hip.

Checking what it could be with a hand, the rough dome top confirmed it was a bollard.

"Can we walk?" Elijah asked, trying to reign Lina back a little with their connected hands.

Hardly noticing that she was in a power walk, Lina fell back to be alongside Elijah.

Never one with much patience, Lina cared not for a casual stroll.

"I would like to get back as soon as possible," making it known that Lina wanted to be back at the hospital sooner rather than later, she tried to pull Elijah again and put some hustle in his step.

It was careful, but Elijah took a firm grip on their joint hands to keep Lina from pulling forward.

"Hold your horses," Elijah sighed in some exasperation "Do you even know where we are?"

It was a fair question, and the answer was no.

"I don't," Lina shook her head "But there is no way to know unless we keep walking," there would be something that would come up, or even a person to come across that could tell them where they were.

Elijah heaved a breath, and Lina was sure that he rolled his eyes too.

"Let's just take a moment to coordinate ourselves," Elijah requested, setting their pace slow again "Rushing around blind will only get us more lost,"

Even with the blackout, it did not stop people moving about, but the area they were in was oddly quiet.

No longer only hearing the crash of blood in her veins, Lina could only listen to their footsteps and soft breaths.

Eerie and with a foreboding finger-tickling her spine, Lina could not even see the painted white lines on the curbs.

At once in agreement with Elijah, it was involuntary how tightly she squeezed his hand.

Needing to be reassured that Elijah was still there, Lina felt silly for it, but the utter lack of light made her nervous.

"Are you alright?" Elijah asked, the question coming out almost like a disembodied voice; it was only their joint hands that reminded Lina he was there.

"Quite." Short and sweet, Lina tried to make out more than silhouettes. There was not even a glimmer of light from someone's home.

Were they in the port?

There was no hush of the Thames to be heard, but their steps echoed.

"Are you scared of the dark?" It came out in a soft tease from Elijah.

It was not the dark that created caution within Lina but the not knowing what was in front or behind.

"I am not," refuting the idea that she was scared of the dark, Lina turned to look behind "I don't like not being able to see," it was the same behind as in front; endless darkness.

There was no denying that they had walked inside some building, a warehouse possibly?

There was an echo to their steps that further collaborated the thought, and a groan of expanding or shrinking metal.

"We should turn around," Elijah put forward the idea a second before Lina could.

Not arguing with Elijah about it, their hands released one another to let them turn, but just as quickly came back together.

There was no point denying that it felt comfortable to be hand in hand with Elijah beyond the matter of becoming separated.

After their kiss, there was an echo of guilt that laid densely on Lina's shoulders.

Barely a month passed, and Lina was locking lips with another man again.

Self-sabotage was becoming a vicious habit, and one impossible to kick in to touch.

"This way," Elijah guided them this time, taking a little more care with each step to avoid ending up inside another building.

Sticking close Lina wanted to address the fact that they kissed, but all the same, did not.

For the time being, it was only a kiss, and that was how it needed to stay.

Lina wanted to return home without a new skeleton in the closet of lies told to Marcus, not add to it.

"I think..." Elijah trailed off in thought, bringing them to a stop "This way. We should go this way,"

Elijah did not sound too confident, but there were only one of four ways to go, and sooner or later, they would find some sense of where they were.

Faint, and still a little ways ahead, the rumble of a bus clumping down a road reached into their silence.

They were close to some form of civilisation at least.

"Do you love him?" Elijah asked out of the blue; it made a Lina trip on her own feet.

Ground to a halt, the soft tug on Lina's arm came only once Elijah noticed that she stopped walking.

There was finally some relief with the dark, Elijah could not see the horrified face Lina knew she was making.

"I do." Resolute in the answer, Lina shook off Elijah's hand.

All they shared was a kiss, nothing more.

So why did Elijah feel the need to put her feelings for Marcus under question?

Not being seen also meant that she could not see, and somehow, Elijah was using it to some advantage.

"Don't get angry when I say this," Elijah adopted a diplomatic tone "But I think you love him, but you're not in love with him," it came in a short sigh "They're not the same,"

Told not to be angry, it didn't stop the swell in her chest that wanted to rage at Elijah for making such a preposterous statement.

Lina curled up her fingers, making tight fists of them like it would contain her anger.

"You're a free-spirited woman," Elijah filled the silence "I don't think you're ready to commit to one man,"

Told that Lina used sex to make herself feel better, and now having it insinuated that she just wanted to run wild, Lina could feel the start of a headache.

"Don't psychoanalyse me," Lina muttered softly, crossing both arms like it would shield her from Elijah's prying words.

Elijah shuffled on his feet but did not come closer.

"I'm not. I am going on what I have seen," Elijah countered, remaining soft in tone "Me, Marcus, Paul, Haines..." listing them off, he laughed, it was gentle and playful "You leap from one to another, you just happened to fall back on the one who could overlook it,"

Head sent topsy turvy, Lina broke out her hands, rubbing at her face "I did not fall back on Marcus," disputing the idea Lina did not want to know how Elijah even knew about Haines "I love him, I am in love with him,"

Trying to put up an argument to dissect Elijah's, there was a crushing loss in that Lina knew as she said that she was in love with Marcus, that it was not entirely true.

Lina loved Marcus, that was something that could not be doubted, but ever since he made her choose between Haines and himself, she felt that she should have picked differently.

Even the coin toss told Lina to pick Haines.

In part, it was pride that made Lina choose Marcus, somehow prove him wrong, and show Marcus that she was not just a woman who needed assurance in a man's physicality and capable of loving herself.

Maybe it was a slight bitter resentment for Marcus's utter annihilation of her defences, that he was capable of tearing her down to more than being bare-skinned, that he was touching her skeleton. 

Whichever it was, Lina was a woman of her word, and she made a promise intended to be kept. 

Even if it were shaken ever so slightly by sharing a kiss with Elijah, it would never be more than that. 

At least that was what Lina tried to tell herself because when Elijah kissed her again, she felt a flutter of something that had not been present with Marcus in too long. 

It was exciting and pure, a desire to be in the embrace of his arms and not just between the sheets. 

Recently, Elijah was right in one thing. 

Lina loved Marcus, but she was no longer in love with him.


	96. Cancerous Heartstrings

Richard's eyes rolled in a dramatic arc with a muttered: "Stupid boy."

A slow shake of Vilem's head told Lina not to mention to their father that not everyone knew that he was alive, so Luis turning pale and passing out after skidding into the hospital room was perfectly normal.

A fraction more composed, but no less shaken, Flaxon stood in the doorway, staring.

"Oh if it is not my favourite nephew," Richard's smile was a beam, sarcastically.

"Shit for brains," Richard bowed his head to Luis "Be a good lad and pick up your brother."

On the other side of the bed, Haines laughed into the back of a hand, fingers flicking against his cheek.

The hospital room held quite an array of guests for the unconscious Jeter.

Among them was Marcus.

Aware that Jeter was the man who spared Marcus his death, his presence was not precisely unexpected.

It was, however, a hindrance in some part.

Speaking with Elijah placed many things into perspective for Lina.

She hated Marcus for many reasons, but she loved him all the same.

And until the buried resentment that left cancer in her heart for Marcus was exorcised, there would be no progress towards the relationship they hoped to have.

Which was why Lina took Marcus from the private hospital room and across the hall to an empty one.

There would be no easy way to say what Lina needed to say, and she did not know where to start with it.

"What have you done this time?" It came so bluntly and tiredly expectant that the level of care within Marcus was nonexistent.

Hand still on the door, Lina was sure that she should have flinched and felt hurt, but it did not come.

Lina kissed Elijah twice, and nothing more.

"I hate you." The three words slipped with far too much ease, but it needed to be said.

Too scared to come off the door's support just yet, Lina hung her head, eyes scrunched closed.

"Pardon?!" It came from Marcus in a spluttering of surprise.

Like her chest, short of breath, it was hollow, and without its lungs, Lina repeated it through gritted teeth.

"You forget what I have done for you." Lina bleated "What I was prepared to do for you."

Fingers curling down into a fist on the door, Lina drew in a steadying breath, before stepping back from the door.

Weak kneed, Lina turned on Marcus, figuratively and literally.

There was so much weighing on her chest, so many scars, both old and new, because of Marcus.

"You single-handedly aided in the massacre of thousands of innocent men, women and children by handing over those coordinates," starting at the beginning was the only place to start "You made my brother a traitor to those he served loyally and with honour,"

Learning once that it was Marcus who intercepted the coordinations that let three allied ships sink from his mouth. The more in-depth clarification came from Vilem over what truly happened.

"I risked my life, spent my money, risked a good friend just to keep you safe," should anyone have found out beyond those little who did that Lina harboured an enemy pilot, it was not just her life, but Danny's too at risk.

Marcus stood rigidly, somewhere between confusion and anger, eyes like an eagle focused for the kill on Lina.

"I willingly married a man who I could never have reciprocated, just to ensure you would be ok," Knud deserved a woman so much better than Lina ", And your damned vile people took his life."

The air raid could never have been foreseeable, but it did not change that it happened.

So carefully constructed was Marcus's composure; it was bittersweet to see a crack in his armour when he winced from the accusation.

"Yes. I slept with Elijah, Paul and even Abbot, and do you know what?" Lina raised both arms in a show of carelessness "I don't regret it. Not a single time,"

Marcus's presence inflicted many emotional wounds upon Lina, and she played him tit for tat in the only way that she ever could.

"I turned a fucking gun on Winters," it still haunted Lina the look on his face, his smile seconds before she pulled the trigger.

"I could have killed myself in the process," her voice started to rise, wrapped in a shrillness with the growing agitation and anger, they swirled like a thunderstorm within her chest "FOR YOU!"

Marcus was never anything less than honest with Lina, and she could not fault him for it.

But Marcus was never prepared to sacrifice his happiness, his life, his friends for Lina.

"I have time and time again, sacrificed for you. Prepared to lose over and over," no longer caring who would hear, who would know of the fire stoked within her chest, blowing flames from her tongue, it needed to be said, "For you."

Everything Lina did was for Marcus to some extent.

"I thought my aunt was a bitch," Lina laughed bitterly "But you are so much worse than she ever could be," connecting the two sounded strange, and it showed on Marcus's face.

"She was just as much a manipulator as you," Lina was in some contradictory state of laughing but crying, "You think I should feel guilty for fucking a few people?" It came in a scoff "I never butchered thousands of them and walked away blind for the blood I caked my hands with,"

In war, there were no rules. All was fair.

A life for a life, a whisper for a hundred.

A drawing for thousands.

"The damned irony is that I kept you to find out the truth of what my brother did, to know if he did murder all those people for turning coats on us," a finger drilled her temple "And all along it was you. You who blackened his name and made him a monster to those who he wanted to protect."

Whether it was sinking in yet, Lina was not sure, but she carried on.

"Victoria at least acted for gain," the finger came off the temple, the hand suspended in air "You did your part for what? A pat on the back? A job well done and a shiny little medal?"

Marcus took nothing from sending all those innocent people to their deaths.

Not even a sense of shame or guilt.

"I was shot for carrying your son," it was mere days after Lina became a widow that she also faced with losing her life and that of the unborn Elias, because of Marcus.

"I was raped trying to protect him, and you." Otto using Elias's life was what placed Lina in a courtyard to murder Winters, to spare Marcus his life "And you're so fucking ungrateful for all that I have endured, just to stay with you, you selfish little bastard."

Exhausted, emotionally, Lina stood taller than ever before "All I ever did was fuck a few people," she calmed "Broke your fingers too," placated for a few seconds "But thank you for holding that against me."

It was cathartic to finally find her voice and throw out all the things that went wrong, because of Marcus.

"I lost our second child because of the stress of that day." It was this piece that truly set apart all the rest.

Lina knew in her gut that what happened in that one day from Marcus's arrest, Elias being threatened, forced to use her body to shield him, weaving the lie and selling out her country, her Squadron, and then killing Winters, was what lost the baby she was carrying at the time.

"And all you ever focus on is that I slept with someone," Lina no longer bothered to enthuse any emotions within her speech, she was tired "Never what I have done to keep you alive and safe, and here, with me,"

Marcus was never an open man, mind and heart a closed and sealed book; the eyes that Lina thought the most beautiful she would ever see, closed off.

Until then.

What part finally shook Marcus enough to let his gaze be so quietly tortured Lina was not sure, but it was finally something.

"We weather any storm," Lina repeated "We always do," a slow breath taken, she took a step "I faced a hurricane for you, and I am tired, battered and bruised from it,"

Closing Marcus's face within both hands, Lina shuffled as close as possible to him.

"And I would do it all again," Lina whispered, never once leaving Marcus's gaze "Just to stay with you,"


	97. Reverie

In the instance, when Elijah and Lina locked lips, and her heart shivered in excitement, she understood.

Never wanting to feel with another as Lina should with the man she married let her know where the problems lay within their stunted relationship.

Marcus refused to forgive Lina for the affairs, and she resented Marcus for all that was endured to be with him.

Presenting it to Marcus in an emotional tirade within an empty hospital room, Lina was not sure what to expect from its end.

Taking a hold on Marcus and telling him that she would do it again if it meant she could keep Marcus with her, the ball was placed back within his court.

Marcus's next move was to make, and she would not force him to rush to it.

Departing the room after laying a simple kiss on Marcus, a sense of weightlessness let her float rather than walk away.

No longer dragging around the unseen ball and chain of residual pain and torment from keeping quiet on how Lina spent the past two years feeling, she came from the room with a smile.

It was not of happiness or joy, but one of relief that curled the edges of her mouth.

Balancing his weight on the cane, Vilem stood in the hallway like he was waiting for Lina with some sense of knowing that he was the friendly face needed to be seen.

There were no words shared; they were not needed.

Reaching out on her arm, Vilem waited, a soft cock of the head when Lina pouted a little for being too obvious with what she needed.

Walking into the firm hold, Vilem was careful, but he swayed them a little to soothe Lina further.

Fingers knotting in the back of the coat, Lina laid her head on Vilem's shoulder "Did you hear that?"

There was a short silence, Vilem's chin digging in gently on Lina's head "Some of it," he admitted "I think a certain someone was fortunate that they annoyed dad enough that he left before you got too loud,"

Laughing, tearfully, that their father departed before it came to his ears that Lina was more than friendly with Haines, she guessed it was a small blessing.

Keeping hold of Vilem, in need of both his physical and emotional support, Lina exhaled deeply.

"Am I in the wrong?" Knowing that Vilem would not just say what was wanted to be heard, Lina trusted Vilem to be honest, and brutal with it.

"Only you can decide that," Vilem uttered softly "I am far too biased to say otherwise."

That was not what Lina wanted to hear from Vilem, a soft poke to his rib made it known as such.

"Listen, bluebird," Vilem sighed "We are all facing hardships, and some are easier to process than others," he settled a hand in her hair, stroking it "If you can't look past the bad for all the good that has come from being with him, then it will never work," he said with a short sigh "Same for him."

Was it human nature to only see the bad, and never the good?

"If you want this to work then being totally honest," Vilem sucked in a slow breath "No matter how painful the truth, is the only place you can start,"

Airing all the silent torments, bitterness, and resentment that littered and marred the genuine want to return to a time where they were good was freeing.

Lina knew that there would be no other who she could just be herself in front of without judgment again, not like Marcus.

From being foul-mouthed to a purposeful wind-up, even unsure and at times lost and with no sense of purpose, Marcus embraced it all.

"I don't think you two have held on to each other, for this long without reason," Vilem mumbled, the obvious dislike of Marcus coming through just a little "You don't see it, but the way you look at each other is not how people do when they're ready to walk away,"

Caught off guard a little by how observant Vilem had been in the short time since he came back, Lina wondered what Marcus's face was like when she wasn't looking at him, and vice-versa.

Calmed a little, assured that speaking as she had with Marcus was not a complete mistake, Lina took her head from Vilem's shoulder.

Lina knew the wait for Marcus would be arduously endured with a clear head and a clearer conscience, but it was a necessary pain.

Vilem flicked the centre of Lina's forehead, poking out of her tongue returned, it came with a smile.

"There we go," Vilem sounded pleased. "That's the bluebird I know," he flicked her head again.

Peeved a little, Lina ducked away when Vilem attempted the third flick, a short laugh coming when she hopped a few steps away.

A hospital ward for those in intensive care was not the place for running around and acting like children, but it was a short-lived relief from the depressing tone set by the day.

Jeter was alive and showing promise that he would recover, but there was still the matter of locating the shooter.

Vilem jabbed Lina with the end of the cane when she quipped that she could outrun him now and that he looked like an old man with his hobbling.

Living in a short state where the world around them did not exist, and that they were children again with nothing better to do than wind one another up, Lina rolled her eyes when Vilem told her to piss off, and returned to their uncle's private room.

Enjoying the small moment where there were no worries, Lina was not ready to face the people within the room, so she pointed out her foot.

Since the Moulin Rouge, Lina had not danced, not even while in the soirées while in Germany.

Taking each step slow, and remembering to keep poise, Lina spun in slow pirouettes, arms up she smiled with how easy it was to recall the many years of ballet lessons.

For a short time when Lina was not pestering her father to let her fly with him the hours of spare time were spent dancing through the halls of their London estate.

Poised and with finesse, Lina showed great promise to be a prima ballerina as a young girl and teenager.

Lina idealised Alicia Markova's determinism and her ability to be true to herself, and it was whom Lina at one point wanted to follow in the footsteps of.

However, the draw to the planes and the skies came stronger, and Lina hung up her days as a dancer to climb in a cockpit.

Becoming a pilot was for Lina a similar battle that Markova faced when dealing with her religious beliefs.

It was a concept to be kept quiet, known but never spoken, and always best left alone.

Lina was predetermined to spend a life in the lap of some luxury, be a dutiful wife, fulfil her social quotas, and pursue charitable means to help those less fortunate.

Rebelling against those adamant about keeping Lina confined to their expectations caused untold stresses for her father, and created tensions with her Uncles and Aunts. Still, Lina refused to be a pretty silent face.

Extending the small dance down the hall, Lina moved from a plié to a sauté, stepping in a soft spin before coming up into demi-pointe releve.

For just a moment feeling like she was fourteen again, Lina wondered what life would have entailed should she have pursued her ballet with as much fierce determination as she did to become a pilot.

Where would Lina be at this point in time?

Practising for a performance?

Eyes closed as the steps became less basic and moved as she moved through their complexities, Lina wished to be within her pointe shoes, to see if she could still do it.

Delicate was never something Lina was, but to glide across a stage, it was necessary, even down to how her fingers were positioned to the angle of her chin.

Much like how Lina would manoeuvre into tumbles and turns when in the skies, she moved with a delicacy in pirouettes and twirls through the hospital halls.

It was the sense of freedom that came with the movements and rotations that Lina held tenderly and fondly within her being.

To be free as a bird.

Caring not for any who would see Lina as she moved on memory, like a long left to sleep instinct, Lina just needed a moment to be at peace with her mind from the state of flux it was in. 

Cohesively gathering her mind with each turn, Lina picked something up and placed it back where it should have been, every spin letting her clear away the shadows of doubt that had been creeping from the periphery for too long. 

Head back in a slow but consecutive rotation, Lina was sure that any who saw her would think her a madwoman escaped from the local asylum, and it was the thought of it that made her stop. 

Not with shame or embarrassment, but a great laugh. 

Using the back of a hand to try and cover the sound so as not to disturb the patients in their beds, Lina found herself at the very end of the hall. 

The hum of the lights, suction of the apparatus and dripping of the liquid being fed into the arms of those lying close to death, Lina felt no shame in taking a deep breath unhindered. 

Lina was once a patient within these halls, she had a taste of looming death, and she was thankful for the second chance granted to her. 

It was why when Lina's feet left the floor she was grateful for the chance to live another day looking upon the eyes of a man who was the reason that she almost took her last breath of love. 

Arms tight around Lina's waist when Marcus picked her from the floor, there were no words to be shared, they learnt a long time ago how to speak with each other without them. 


	98. Never Again

Whether it was when told all that happened before would be repeated if it meant that Lina could stay by Marcus’s side, or that he was forced to see the whole picture and not just one corner he was not sure. 

Whichever it was, Marcus decided it was time to put to bed the past and make way for the present and the future. 

Marcus did not think himself a man incapable of forgiveness, but he would never forget. 

An exception, he supposed, would only be fair in this case. 

So when Marcus stepped from the hospital room, shock subsided from all that he chose not to see or even acknowledge, he waited and watched in benign silence. 

Not since that night within the Moulin Rouge did Marcus see Lina dance, she mentioned then that she was trained in many of its forms. 

Lina was a tantalising sight to behold within the famed dance hall, she commanded attention and held it. 

This was a world away from the fast-paced world of the cabaret showstoppers that she would commit too. 

There was a refinery in every twirl and step, a poise she possessed but rarely exuded unless it was dictated. 

From the moment they came face to face within the hallway of Lina’s childhood home, Marcus knew then that nothing was as it seemed with her. 

Multifaceted, constantly shifting and moving to a tide of her own, Marcus could never place one step ahead of one of hers. 

Imbued with a gracefulness that was uniquely tailored to fit her skin like it was a veneer, it bore sharp edges and an impenetrable fortress within its centre. 

Weakness was never allowed, and Lina rarely showed it. 

Marcus admitted once that he admired Lina’s mind and wit, that her tenacity was enviable. 

Time after time, one after another, something laid siege on Lina in one way or another, and still, she stood firm and tall with a smile and a sarcastic quip. 

Possibly it was something that he, a man who rarely was shaken by anything, envied. 

Death, murder, deceit, liars, manipulation, betrayed, Lina faced them all in rapid succession and somehow managed to come out the victor. 

Slow with a deadly preciseness, Lina managed to strike back harder than she was ever hit. 

Should Marcus be honest with himself, there was an element of fear that came with being the husband and lover of a woman like Lina. 

There was a long list of men who admired her and would quickly step in and fill Marcus’s shoes should he leave. 

But none would ever be able to come close to the torch Marcus held for Lina. 

Marcus would become just another cold side of a bed Lina would possibly never lay down in again, but for Marcus, her mark would be left in more than just the sheets they often shared. 

Her touch was etched on Marcus’s skin, the taste of her lips the sweetest thing to ever touch his mouth, and to just hear her speaking was the only music Marcus would ever need. 

It was how deeply she settled beneath his skin that scared Marcus. 

He could not let her go, and he never wanted to. 

It was why when Lina came to a stop at the end of the hall with a laugh, Marcus brought her within his arms and to his chest. 

A long time ago, they learned to talk without ever speaking. 

Once more held between the palms of Lina’s hands, a careful lean laid their heads together, eyes focused on one another. 

Marcus promised himself once that he would never commit to a woman while the war was ongoing, not when its end was without promise and the victor undecided. 

Never a man to break a vow - even to himself - this was the only exception and time it would happen. 

A choice made without ever being noticeably made. 

Time and opportunities came where Marcus could have left and headed back home, rejoined the battle within the skies above them; but Marcus didn’t want to. 

Wherever Lina was, was Marcus’s home. 

Whether it was land, sea or sky, Marcus would cross them if he knew at the end of each journey that Lina would be waiting. 

They had come too far to let a few mistakes and poor choices be what tore them apart. 

Marcus was equally as responsible for Lina’s unspoken anguish as she was his; it was time to put them to bed and let them rest and recover. 

Never wanting to be told that he was hated again by Lina, it was another four-letter word that Marcus wanted to hear whispering from her lips. 

Slowly bringing Lina down to touch the floor again, the hands upon his face never left, and their foreheads remained connected. 

Even the simplest of contact filled Marcus with a warmth that could never be put into words, and he never wanted to lose the inability to describe how it made him feel when with her. 

Love was the label of what Marcus felt for Lina, but it was something far deeper, more profound than a single word could ever accurately describe when he was with her. 

Their eyes stayed focused on each other, and within Lina’s was everything Marcus would ever need. 

Even if they never spoke a word to one another again, he could hear everything her mouth failed to say within her gaze. 

Marcus asked Lina twice never to leave him but promised only once never to let her go. 

And though it was not said, Marcus knew that he would never have to ask Lina to stay with him a third time or promise not to let her go a second. 


	99. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Placed down and back on both feet, Lina could not put into words what it meant to have Marcus embrace her, their conversations held with gazes alone, it was the sweetest they shared in far too long. 

With some worry, Marcus glanced over Lina’s shoulder to where the corridor fell away into steps - she almost danced down them. 

Figuring for once luck was shining, Lina’s mouth was rugged into a playful grin. 

Using the backs of his fingers to stroke Lina’s cheek, a soft kiss was placed on them with a subtle movement of her head. 

“You never cease to amaze me,” Marcus sighed gently, laying the hand to Lina’s cheek, letting it rest within his palm. 

Oddly a little embarrassed that Marcus had witnessed her dancing down the hall, Lina turned her face a little more, hiding almost within Marcus’s hand. 

Catching Marcus’s eye again, Lina reached for him, drawing him just a little closer with a soft and almost impatient pull on his shirt to bring him down to meet her in the middle. 

Tender and without rush for it to become something more, they stayed within the warm embrace of one another’s kiss. 

Softly, the excitable shiver within Lina’s chest came forward, making itself known that -even if small- it had returned home. 

Wanting to share whatever they could until some interruption came, Lina twined her arms around Marcus’s shoulders, the fingers playing with the ends of his hair. 

It was why the clips of a set of approaching feet made Lina sigh a little forlornly; they were not exactly in a place where fawning over one another was appropriate. 

Breaking away a little, Lina held Marcus’s face one more time, thrilled by the soft grip her kept on her waist. 

“Pardon the interruption,” Tinker addressed them both, oddly serious as he did. 

Facing Tinker with a short frown, Lina’s heart froze. 

Somehow not the youthful face Lina came to know over many years, Tinker’s visage was hardened and determined scowling. 

“You just could not conform, you always had to have the last word,” Tinker shook his head, thumb stroking down the pistol in his hand, cocking it “But the final word this time shall be mine,”

Raising his arm, Tinker smiled, showing the youthful grin Lina came to adore with the sweet-hearted man she believed she knew. 

“It is not the truth that matters, but victory.” 

Lina could not be sure which was louder. 

Tinker’s betrayal, the firing of the gun, or Marcus’s shouting. 

All that Lina did know was that the pain was only there for a second, and then it was gone. 


	100. Hummingbird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have to tell you that I am grateful  
> Ich muss dir sagen, dass ich dankbar bin
> 
> I was not ready before that  
> Ich war davor noch nicht bereit
> 
> I hope you have not lost too much time  
> Ich hoff' du hast nicht zu viel Zeit verloren
> 
> And if so, then I'm sorry  
> Und wenn ja, dann tut mir leid
> 
> Got so much good from you  
> Hab' so viel gutes von dir mitgenommen
> 
> I learned what to love means  
> Ich hab gelernt was lieben heißt
> 
> And wherever you are right now  
> Und wo auch immer du jetzt gerade bist
> 
> Maybe you hear me, who knows  
> Vielleicht hörst du mich, wer
> 
> Everything was worth it, I can see it now  
> Hat sich alles gelohnt, ich kann's jetzt sehen

Standing at the sink, washing the breakfast dishes, Lina hummed to herself.

It wasn't a song or a tune, but a sound.

Almost like a name, only two syllables and it sat on her tongue many times before, but never could she put her voice into it.

Over and over the short vibration tickled her lips, wanting so desperately to know why it felt so heart-achingly familiar but could never be pulled from memory.

Lina knew that she knew it, without ever being able to say why.

There were good days among the dark empty ones.

Sometimes it was just a place, only a glimpse, and only for a second that Lina could remember it, then it was gone again.

Never staying long enough for Lina to take a full grasp on it and scrutinise it closely, to set free another memory.

Whenever they came, it would make Lina's head hurt. Right behind the eyes like someone had a hammer and chisel tapping away at them.

Her vision would spot and swirl, while little black stars would dance within them.

No matter how hard Lina tried to coax out a memory, it never came.

From the very moment Lina woke in the hospital bed, she knew something was different - wrong.

Besides the abysmal headache, there was a hollow space where Lina was sure that she had no once been.

It was vacant now.

The doctor was kind and talked slowly, careful with every word that left his mouth, but none of it struck home within her.

It felt more like the man was telling Lina a story of another woman, who could never possibly be her.

The doctor had shown deep pitted worry when Lina shrugged gently back to his questions, the furrow in his wrinkled brow deep.

A princess, a pilot, mother and wife?

Lina was none of those things, she was sure of it, but all the same, not.

All Lina knew was that she was called Lina.

Nothing the doctor said resonated, and after many weeks, he waved the white flag of defeat.

It was within those weeks that Lina had a regular visitor.

He was like clockwork.

Never a minute late.

Never a second early.

He would sit beside Lina's bed, talking idly about his day, of his son and how he was progressing.

Strange as the man was, Lina never minded his company, but she could never grasp why he came by so often.

He was handsome, well put together and sweet.

Yet, Lina would catch from time to time some glow of hopefulness within his eyes when he walked in, and just before he left.

When the day finally came to be discharged, Lina wondered, even now, if she should have left the man something.

A letter, perhaps?

Even just to say a small thanks for keeping her company all those weeks.

The humming came stronger, and Lina was sure that a letter or even the start of the two-syllable words was finally starting to take shape on her tongue; she continued.

After the hospital release, Lina could not describe the sensation in any other way than an impulse.

It was the one thing that she could recall when waking, she knew it was of great importance, but she couldn't put a finger on why.

So, with only the clothes on her back and the money in her handbag, Lina boarded a train and headed to Lincolnshire.

If only to try and find out why it was the only thing that stuck in her mind.

She stayed in a hotel for a few days, wandering the city in some vague hope that something would leap out and tell her why she recalled this place.

It never happened.

Still, Lina stayed.

A silent beneficiary kept Lina financially afloat, only ever signing the letters that came with them, BB.

Lina tried, willed herself to think if it meant anything, or if it was someone she knew.

Alas, nothing ever came up.

Stacking the dishes on the draining board, Lina huffed.

How long would she live in a body and mind that she could not remember?

On waking, after the initial pains and confusion, the doctor explained that she narrowly missed a bullet fired at her head.

The bullet missed, but the fall that it caused was severe.

Unconscious for many weeks, the doctor said they held concern that she would never wake up, and Lina supposed that she never truly had.

To not know oneself was gut-wrenching, thinking she could pass by a person she once was a friend or even a lover too and not know them left her in a deep sense of loss.

And it was a profound loss.

Still capable of speech, able to read and write, there was no depth within any of it.

Lina did not know what she liked or disliked, where she came from, where she had been or why.

It was just a void. A hollow space, aching to be filled.

That was why the continuous humming felt so important, there was something there on the very tip of her tongue, waiting.

Slowly Lina teased her tongue over each letter of the alphabet, wishing for one to trigger something and let her speak the word that was only ever a soft hum.

A through to Z there were a few that cradled her mouth, like a soft whisper wanting to come out.

But it never became more than a sound, there was nothing else that came with it, and it was upsetting.

Lina took the tea towel from the kitchen side drying both hands at a loss for what to do while staring out the window with the short hum on her lips.

She stopped.

Outside the window was a flower box, there from the moment she moved in, she would fill it with breadcrumbs and apples, the birds who would peck at them would bring her joy.

She wished that she could be as free as them, to take flight in the skies in spins and twirls.

Maybe, just maybe, the doctor was right, and she was a pilot once?

The thought sent an excited quiver through her chest, short and playful wings of butterflies tickled her stomach from within.

Today was different from others when the flower box was graced with a feathered friend; this bird was different.

It was blue, it's plumage soft but majestic it puffed up its chest before breaking into a soft twittering song.

Lina could not be sure why, but she knew that she had seen this bird many times throughout her life.

It was significant somehow, and it hurt her chest when she couldn't fathom why, or even why a tear budded in the corner of her eye.

Too scared to wipe the gentle river that washed her skin in case it startled the bluebird to take flight, Lina dared not to blink in case she missed even a second of the joy its presence brought.

No longer wanting to live as a ghost, moving through the motions of life in some state of repeat as the world kept walking forward without her.

Lina wanted to know why she hummed a word that was known to her tongue but not in her mind.

It was there, urging Lina to say it as if it was all that she needed to do to regain what she wasn't even aware that she lost.

Only a little longer, a tiny bit more, and Lina was sure that she would have it.

A set of gentle taps on the front door to Lina's home sent the bluebird into flight.

Mourning its leaving Lina at the precise moment she was sure that she would say what it was in her tongue, it did not stop in its singing.

Somehow it sounded so much sweeter like it was in celebration of something.

Sighing, Lina threw down the towel leaving the kitchen.

With no concept of who she was, trying it to make friends was difficult, so having a knock at the door was rare to the point of nonexistent.

Gently touching the scar beneath her hair, Lina continued to hum to the door, absent of mind when opening it.

On the doorstep but facing away as if looking down the street was a man.

For just a second, Lina thought it was the man who came to see her in the hospital, but it was a short-lived wish.

"Hello?"

The man flinched, but it was subtle like he was surprised when Lina spoke to him as if he was not the one waiting on the doorstep.

Tall, the man was definitely taller than any she met - or at least thought she met - the shoulders were broad if not a little tense within the coat he wore.

Bemused a little when the man did not turn, it tried to make the reason for his presence known, Lina leaned to one side, peering around to try and see his face.

He moved, just a fraction, but enough that it let Lina see his profile.

Hum no longer a hum, but a sound, a word, Lina hardly breathed as her tongue caressed every single letter, all six of them.

"Marcus."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It isn’t over yet, Bluebird.


End file.
